Haven't Met You Yet
by Hanane EL Mokkadem
Summary: After Edward and his family abandon Bella she moves on with Jake. When he imprints and leaves her too, she's had it. She's leaving town and she's taking Leah with her. On their trip, Bella meets Jasper. The one Cullen she hasn't met before-REVISIONS-
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: _I don't own Twilight in any way, shape, or form._

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_-Prologue-_

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**Bella**

.

Two years have gone by since the day Edward and his family left me, but somehow it still felt like it only happened yesterday. Not the Edward leaving me part, fuck him. I wouldn't take Edward back even if he came and begged me on his bare knees. It was just when he left he didn't go alone. He took Alice, and the rest of his family with him. He took the people I considered _my _family with him, and they didn't even stop on their way out of town to say goodbye.

He told me Alice wasn't interested in being my friend anymore because she had more important things to concentrate on; like finding her mate. Alice had started receiving visions of her mate long before I met her. She never found him though. Apparently it was the reason she left her first husband. Edward once told me Alice's husband normally lived with his family too, posing as Rose's twin brother, a Hale. He said that Alice broke his heart so he decided to take some time away from the family.

I couldn't blame him. Poor guy. He spent decades with a woman thinking she was the one, only to be tossed aside when the promise of something better came along.

I knew how that felt. Edward hurt me, they all hurt me, and I couldn't help ask myself why I cared so much about never seeing them again, when they blatantly showed how much they didn't care about me.

The fact was that the Cullens, love them or hate them, had an important impact on my life. They showed me what my life could be, only to turn around and rip it away from me just when I felt so close at achieving my heart's true desire. I loved Edward. It didn't matter that I would probably try to kill the little prick if he ever dared to show his face in my life again, I loved him.

I never felt anything even remotely coming close to what I felt for Edward for anyone in my life, and there were times when I feared I never would again. But it didn't change the fact that he left me.

He covered his intentions in ugly words, but after the gaping hole that was formerly my heart started the slow and painful process of healing, I understood with perfect clarity what the moron had done. He left to protect me. He saw I would never fear him no matter what he did, not even after he tried to rip my throat out at my eighteenth birthday party. So Edward in his 'I am older thus know better manner' did the only thing he thought he should do; protect me from myself and the danger he posed to me. What a stupid asshole.

I wondered how he would react if we ever saw each other again. Would he catch my scent and turn away without meeting me? Or would he stay and see who I had become?

I didn't know the answer to that. I did know he would be appalled at the changes I went through after he left. In many ways the changes were for the better, in other ways for worse.

I started dating Jacob Black after Edward left. In the beginning Jake saved me from drowning. After I returned from my stay in Zombieville he was the only thing that made me even remotely happy.

I was hesitant to start a relationship at first because of the imprinting issue. I worried he was going to pull a Sam on me and abandon me when he found his imprint, leaving me broken, or worse, like Leah.

Poor Leah. Even though she was a bitch of epic proportion, I honestly couldn't help feeling bad for her. It must be hell to not only be abandoned by the man you thought you were going to spend the rest of your life with, but your cousin as well. To actually have to feel everything Sam feels for Emily and know with absolute certainty that it could never come close to what he felt for you. Through the collective mind of the pack Leah felt saw and heard things she shouldn't have to. It was bad enough being the only female wolf, but being forced to see everything in Sam's mind and knowing that he knew everything about you in return, had to be excruciating.

I couldn't blame Leah for being angry and bitter, I know I would have been. Just the thought of Leah having to live through the memory of her ex-fiance making love to her cousin made me sick to my stomach

Leah's story made me very uncomfortable with the imprinting process. I knew I would never have to live through seeing them together in his mind the way Leah did, but that didn't mean I was going to consider starting a relationship with Jacob without thinking about it very carefully.

After agonizing over the issue for god knows how long, I decided to talk to Jacob about imprinting. I told him I couldn't start a relationship with him, only to have it end when he found the one that was made for him. And that I wasn't sure I could live through being left again without Jake there to help me through it.

After talking about it extensively Jacob convinced me he felt that I was the one that was made for him. He told me I was his soul mate, and that he didn't need a stupid imprinting God to tell him otherwise.

I believed him, so I stayed.

I understood that there was a big chance that someday he actually would imprint. But Jacob assured me that even if he did, it wouldn't change anything between us. He wouldn't accept the imprint. He would never leave me the way Edward did. I knew I was taking a big leap, but I did love Jacob in my own way, and I honestly needed to believe in something.

One of my conditions was to take it slow. Jacob knew exactly how I felt about him, I made sure to make my feelings clear to him, so that he understood why I wasn't anywhere near ready for a physical relationship. I wanted a strong relationship before starting anything like that with him. I wanted to be completely in love with him, so that it wouldn't just be sex. Jacob agreed readily, even if it frustrated him, and me, at times. In the end no matter how much my hormones were screaming for release, I stood by my decision.

Jacob never pressured me to have sex with him, and I loved him for it.

Lately I felt like I was at a place in my life where I could finally take that next step with him. I was starting to feel comfortable and safe in our relationship. I was in love with him and I wanted to show him in every way I could.

I smiled in anticipation as I drove into the Quileute reservation. Jacob had called me earlier asking me to meet him at Sam's place for the pack meeting. It wasn't something I usually attended so I was a bit curious about why Jake invited me. I wondered if there was a problem with vampires that they thought I could help with. Or maybe someone imprinted.

If someone had imprinted, I could only hope it was Paul. He seriously needed something to focus on, something that preferably wasn't me.

Next to Leah - which didn't really count because Leah didn't like anyone but Seth - Paul was the only one in the pack that was less than welcoming to me. I could even go so far and say that he outright hated me. When I asked Jake why he told me it was because of my past with the Cullens. But something in Jake's eyes when he answered my question made me think he wasn't being truthful. I chalked it up to Jake not wanting to hurt my feelings by telling me the real reason behind the ill-disguised scowls and heated glares Paul always sent my way.

Paul finding his imprint would definitely keep him off my back. It would probably turn him into a huge puppy, all soft and mushy. I couldn't help but smile at that image, and look forward to the day. It would be a lot of fun to watch Paul go through that. Maybe he would even stop hating my guts.

Nah, not fucking likely.

I quickly parked my car after I arrived at Sam's house. I glanced at the sky from my side-window and scowled at the soft drops of water falling on my windshield.

"Stupid Forks and its never-ending rain," I muttered softly while I opened the door to my truck, and jumped out. I quickly closed the door before sprinting towards Sam and Emily's house.

I had the strangest feeling that today wasn't going to be a good day for me.


	2. Crying Old Tears

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight in any way, shape, or form.

**A/N:** _**I have re-written this story, I recommend you start re-reading the first chapter. Story re-written since **_**_24-11-2011._**

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_-Chapter One: Crying Old Tears-_

**Bella**

The first thing I noticed when I walked into the house was the tension in the room. There was complete silence and I felt everyone's eyes watching me as I made my way through the dining-room. I stopped when I reached the large table standing in the center and shifted my stance uneasily. Although I had changed a lot in the past two years I was still uncomfortable with being the center of attention. I forcibly restrained my nerves and resisted the urge to make a 'who died' comment because in this crowd, that wasn't an impossibility. When that thought drifted through my mind I immediately started looking around the room to see if anyone was missing, I sighed in relief when I saw every member of the pack and their imprints sitting around the large dining-room table. Everyone was present and accounted for, everyone plus one. There was a pretty girl sitting next to Jacob, a girl who I had never met before. _Must be the new imprint._

"Hey guys. Who imprinted?" I asked pulling out the only free chair left at the table. I grimaced when I saw it was located next to Paul, and quickly glanced his way, waiting for him to make his usual comments of not wanting to sit beside a leech-lover. I frowned when he didn't object and just looked at me with sad eyes. I turned a questioning look towards Jacob but he quickly broke eye contact and looked down. Things were starting to get a bit strange, especially when I tried to meet Sam's eyes only to find the same look on his face that I found on Paul's.

My attention was caught by Emily who started crying softly. "Em, sweetheart, what's wrong? I asked worriedly. Emily didn't answer she just looked at me with regret written all over her features. I looked around the room trying to find someone willing to tell me what was going on but found only silence. I didn't understand why no one said anything. Why was Emily crying? Why was everyone looking at me like I was just diagnosed with cancer. Something strange was going on here.

I started when Leah suddenly jumped up from her chair and slammed her hand on the table, breaking it in half. I gaped in shock and not just because Leah had just broken Sam's freaking table but because Paul hugged me against him, shielding me from flying splinters of wood. What the hell was going on here? Why was Paul holding me? And why did I think it felt kinda nice?

"Well? Isn't anyone of you fucking assholes going to say anything? Or do you want to wait until she figures it out herself? That way you wont have to be the one to tell her!" she yelled angrily.

I didn't understand what she was talking about. Did she mean me? What did they have to tell me? Whatever it was I was starting to get a bad feeling about it. Leah whipped her head from Jake to Sam but sniffed in disgust when they didn't say anything. The silence still ruled the room. "Fucking pussies," she muttered angrily. "I'll tell her myself. That way you wont have to be the one do the dirty work," she turned to me with a calm expression and took a deep breath. "Bella I'm very sorry to be the one to tell you this, but Jacob imprinted."

My heart stopped and I had to remind myself to keep breathing. I swallowed heavily before saying, "Excuse me?"

I was starting to feel dizzy - _mustn't forget to breathe._ My mind snapped back to attention by the most peculiar thing. I looked at my hand to make sure I wasn't hallucinating and frowned in confusion. Why was Paul Marez holding my hand? My head snapped back up and I gaped at Paul in shock when I saw the look on his face. He was concerned about me. He was holding my hand in comfort. _Sonofabitch!_

I turned my eyes back to Leah when she continued talking, but didn't let go of Paul's hand. I jumped when he squeezed it in support and forced myself not to ask him if he was seriously doing what I thought he was dong. At that point in time nothing seemed to make any sense so it wouldn't have surprised me to find out I was seeing and hearing things that weren't actually true.

"...He imprinted on someone..." I heard Leah say through the fog that clouded my mind. I watched as she pointed at the girl standing next to Jacob. "...That someone."

This time I turned to Jake, maybe he could explain why I somehow landed in some kind of alternate universe - Damn I knew watching Star Trek re-runs on SciFi would come back to haunt me. I shook my head clearing it from all unnecessary thought and focused on the problem at hand. Jake imprinted...okay no big, he promised not to accept the imprint if it ever did happen, so... "Jake? Talk to me, you promised I would never have to go through this. You told me I'm your soul-mate, you promised that if you ever did imprint you'd fight it."

Jake glanced at me but didn't make eye-contact. I could spot a guilty conscious a mile away and that boy had more then enough guilt. "I'm sorry about this, Bella, I really am. But I don't want to fight it. I love her. I love her more then I ever loved you."

_Well that wasn't painful at all._ I absentmindedly rubbed my chest trying to ease the burn I was feeling. His words hurt. What was wrong with me, why did every boy I ever loved end up leaving me? Was it me, was I driving them away? No! _No_. That wasn't true, whatever the hell Edward's damage was - _he loved me_. He left in order to protect me and he wouldn't have done that if he felt nothing for me. He wouldn't even have taken the risk in exposing his secret to me if I was nothing special. I shouldn't have be thinking bad things about myself because this wasn't my fault. Sure, I was a world class idiot for believing a single word out of Jacob Black's mouth, but I sure as hell wasn't going to allow his actions to make me doubt myself.

I looked at him trying to see how I could have been foolish enough to believe him, but I saw nothing but a coward. He didn't even have the decency to break up with me to my face, he let Leah do all the talking for him. Even Edward came to see me in person. My eyes drifted to the people around me sitting in chairs around the broken dining-room table. They were all waiting for me to cry, to fall apart. To repeat what I did when Edward left me. I wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of seeing me fall apart. I wasn't even sure I was going to fall apart now that the blinders had lifted from my eyes. They all knew Jacob had imprinted but instead of telling him to take me somewhere private and tell me gently, they did it like this.

They stood as a united front against me. Against the girl they once loved and joked with. Jacob handled this in a way to show me that I was clearly the outsider here. Well fuck him very much!

"Congratulations, Jacob, I hope you're happy," I said, voice devoid of any emotions. "It would have been nice if you told me all this in private, though. But this just goes to show how much you hold me in regard."

I looked at all their faces Sam, Emily, Jared, Kim. They were all watching me with so much pity, it pissed me off. Suddenly it occurred to me. Just how long ago did he imprint and manage to keep it from me? I turned back to Jake. "When did you imprint Jake, because I'm pretty sure it wasn't today. When was it?"

I saw small traces of guilt paint his face before he looked down and hid his face from view. He stayed silent.

"Well? Are you going to answer her, or do I have to be the one to tell her this too?" Leah asked clearly pissed off on my behalf.

"Leah!" Sam warned.

"Fuck you, oh high and mighty alpha," she spat at Sam. There was so much anger there, between them. Would I become that angry too, was watching Leah like receiving a glimpse of my future? I didn't want that to be me, not ever. I snapped back to attention when Leah turned her angry eyes towards me. "Two weeks. Everyone knew. But Sam gave an alpha order forcing us not to say anything about it to you, because some of us thought you deserved to know," she sighed tiredly pinching the bridge of her nose. It was as if all the anger was drained from her, as if she was tired of this whole mess. I could relate.

"Oh," I said softly. "I see," and I did see. I understood some things that had been bothering me for the last week or so. The hushed up conversations whenever I came near, the pitying looks. The guilt that I saw in Quil and Embry's eyes and how they avoided me. Seth's anger towards Jake and Paul and Leah's rage towards everyone. "So you've been lying to me for the past two weeks? All of you? Who wanted to tell me?" I directed my last question towards Leah since she had been the only one honest enough to even talk to me.

"I did. Seth and Paul wanted to tell you too, and Quill and Embry didn't like was was going on either. They tried to get Jake to tell you but we all know how well that turned out. Fucking coward," she muttered under her breath. "The others thought it was none of their business and didn't want to get involved. When Paul tried to talk to Sam about it I believe his exact words were; Bella Swan's emotional well-being is not the responsibility of the pack."

I didn't think I could possibly hurt more, but I did. Why was it that every time I thought I found my place with someone, fate came around to kick me in my non-existent balls? Were these really the people I considered my friends, my family even? Leah -_ Leah_ of all people wanted to tell me but Emily stayed silent. Paul, someone that I thought wouldn't even piss on me if I was on fire talked to Sam on my behalf. They weren't my friends - hell they didn't even like me, but at least they tried to do the right thing. Like my real friends were suppose to try, like Seth, Quil and Embry tried, like Emily didn't.

"I thought you were my fiend, Emily. How could you not come to me with this?" I asked her quietly, voice hoarse with suppressed tears.

She started crying again. "I'm sorry, Bella. Really I am, but Sam thought it was better not to tell you anything."

_It shouldn't have mattered, not if you were really my friend._ "Better for whom, Emily? Better for me? Because I don't fucking think so. Fuck you, Emily," I spat ignoring Sam's growling presence beside her. He could go fuck himself too for all I cared.

I looked at Seth, Leah, Quill, Embry and Paul. "I don't blame any of this on you, I understand why you couldn't say anything, and I appreciate your efforts in trying to convince them to tell me. Especially you Paul and Leah.. I know you don't particularly like me, but you tried to do the right thing anyway, unlike some people I used to call friends."

Leah nodded curtly her eyes sympathetic but Paul shifted uncomfortably. "Hey, it was nothing. It wasn't right that's all. They shouldn't have placed Jacob and his imprint above you. Jacob is the one in the wrong here, not you," he spoke hesitantly.

"I didn't do _anything_ wrong!" Jacob yelled, speaking for the first time that night. "I imprinted. It wasn't my fault, it was out of my fucking control!"

Paul turned to him with a disgusted look on his face. "Yes Jake, you're right. You did nothing wrong by imprinting. You did however fuck up by promising Bella that even if you would imprint, you'd ignore it. When you said that, you knew you were lying, and if that wasn't bad enough," he continued. "You kept Bella in the dark about it and didn't even have the decency to talk to her yourself. You let Leah do all the talking for you, you fucking pussy! You're an asshole and if I were Bella, I'd be glad I got rid of your lying ass before I did something stupid like marry you or have children with you. You shouldn't even have gone after her! You didn't imprint on her, Jake, that should've been reason enough not to mess with her. She made friends among us, she considers us family, what do you think will happen to her now, huh? You're worse then that fucking leech ever was, at last he did what he did for her own good!"

My chest hurt. Suddenly I couldn't take it anymore. It was like deja-fucking-vu all over again. I wasn't only losing my boyfriend, but I was losing my family too. They didn't ask me here so Jake could break up with me. They asked me here so they all could. I felt as if my chest was about to explode, it hurt so much. I was so done with this crap. I was never going to let anyone hurt me like this again. I was leaving this fucking town, I couldn't even remember why I stayed in the first place. The town Forks was full of fucked up memories I would have rather forgotten. I was going to take my car and go somewhere else, maybe start over. That was what I should have done all along instead of clinging to Jacob fucking Black as if my life depended on it. _Asshole_. No, the best thing for me was to leave.

I watched as Paul hurled all kinds of...very inventive insults towards Jake and smiled. Who would have thought Paul would be the one to come to my defense. I always thought he hated my guts but I must have been wrong about that too. The other thing that made me smile was the fact that Leah was standing next to Paul with a scowl on her face. Leah couldn't seem to make a choice between being angry with Jacob for causing all this, or Sam for ordering them to keep quiet about it. On Paul's other side stood Seth. He was silent as usual but the death glare he sent Jake's way told everyone exactly how he felt about him. Good old Seth. He was like the little brother I never had, and he loved me fiercely. Although Charlie and Sue weren't married yet, he considered me his sister and he was clearly enraged on my behalf. I would miss him most.

Reality came crashing back instantly. _Where would I go? What would I do?_ Besides, it's not like Charlie would just let me go, anyway. Leaving Forks would be a stupid thing to do. I sighed tiredly and stood from my chair. The arguing werewolves hadn't noticed yet, they were too busy trying to verbally rip each other's heads off, or in Paul's case, literally. It looked like Paul was about to phase. He was shaking and poised to jump at Jacob; it was kind of cute actually. Sam yelled at Emily to get the imprints to the kitchen but halted mid-sentence when he saw me walking towards the front door.

"Bella? Where are you going?" he asked bemusedly. Everyone stopped fighting and turned back to me in surprise.

I turned my head back slowly. "I'm leaving."

"Where are you going? Are you gonna be okay?" Leah asked with concern.

I smiled softly. "Yeah, I think I am. But I don't belong here anymore, and I really don't want to be in this house any longer then I have to," my last words were accompanied with a glare toward Emily and Sam.

"See what you did, you little shit-head!" Paul yelled at Jacob. "Now she's going to leave and never come back! It's all your fault!"

"So? She _should_ leave, she doesn't belong here anymore," Jake returned bitingly. Paul growled and was about to punch him when I spoke.

"You know, you're right. It's the only honest thing you've ever told me," I smiled softly. I had talked myself out of leaving Forks again out of fear. But Jake's words rang true in my mind, I really didn't belong here anymore. It would be stupid of me to stay here out of fear or obligation. Life was too short.

I grinned happily and chuckled when I saw Jake flinch. "I am _so_ out of here," I chirped cheerfully. I walked towards the door but just as I was about to walk out, something stopped me. I turned back studying Leah carefully. Maybe Leah and I weren't so different after all. I didn't leave Forks because of my fear, but she couldn't out of duty. It must have been torture to stay in La Push where everyone knew her fiance had left her for her cousin. Where everyone looked at her with pity in their eyes not understanding what had happened, but wondering why she shamelessly followed Sam everywhere he went. Maybe Leah needed a little push too. Maybe I could be the one to give it to her.

Leah opened her mouth, no doubt about to ask what the hell I was looking at, but I spoke first. "Leah, you coming?"

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**A/N:** _This chapter has been re-written. It's more the twice as long as the previous one and I changed all the mistakes I could find. If you find any mistakes, and you probably will, please let me know and I'll fix them. Let me know what you think?_

_-Review-?_


	3. Flying Solo

**Disclaimer:** _I don't own Twilight in any way, shape, or form._

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_Chapter Two: Flying Solo_

**Bella**

Leah gave me a bemused frown. "Sure, do you need me to drive you home or something?" she asked watching me curiously.

"No. I'm leaving, I mean _really_ leaving. This fucked up town, this fucking state. Come to think of it I might even leave the damn country while I'm at it. Do you want to come? Because the way I see it you and I are in the same boat, someone pulled a Sam on us. Jake betrayed me and you - you were fucked over by the original motherfucker."

I took a deep breath and gathered my thoughts for a second before asking the most important thing. "I don't want to be here anymore, there's nothing for me in Forks. What do you have that's keeping you here?" I asked candidly.

She looked at me with pain-filled eyes and for the first time since I met Leah Clearwater, I saw the real her. I saw how much she was really hurting, what being here, watching them together cost her, and how it was slowly destroying her. I felt connected to Leah and I understood why she stood up for me.

When I initially asked her to leave with me, I asked because I thought she might want to leave this place too. I figured I'd ask but if she said no, it wouldn't be a big deal. But now I knew I wasn't taking no for an answer. Leah needed to leave this place not because she wanted to, but because it was slowly killing her. I could see something in her eyes that I recognized from watching myself in the mirror. A death wish. It's the same wish that made me hesitate in the clearing when facing Laurent.

My instincts told me to run, normal people would have, I knew it wouldn't help because he was faster and stronger than me but it shouldn't have mattered, I should have run. I tried to run from James in the dance studio, so why didn't I try to run from Laurent? That question ran through my mind for weeks after that day, it wasn't until later that I understood. I didn't run, because there was a part of me that wanted to die. At least in death I wouldn't have to feel the agonizing burn Edward left on my heart. I death I could let everything go and not feel as if I couldn't breathe at the mere mention of his name. Looking into Leah's eyes I couldn't help but wonder how long it would take for Leah to give into that desire. To react just a little slower than usual when fighting a vampire because of her subconscious desire to die.

I knew from what Seth told me about her that she had always planned on getting the hell out of La Push. Her plans changed when she first phased. Her dreams of leaving the reservation to go to college pretty much went to hell after that. I knew Leah not only needed to leave La Push, but that she wanted to. I just needed to come up with some good arguments to convince her furry ass.

"I know you have Sue and Seth to think about here, and I have Charlie," I continued without breaking eye-contact. "But I'm not saying we leave without ever calling, writing, or visiting. They'll be fine without us. Sue and Charlie have each other, and Seth has the pack. They don't _need_ us. Let's get the hell out of here before someone else decides to fuck us over," I pleaded trying my best to convince her.

I studied her intently, holding my breath, waiting for an answer.

"No! I forbid it!" Sam suddenly yelled.

"You can't forbid shit," I spat harshly. "You can try to put an Alpha command on her, but I guarantee you that if you do, I will make it my personal mission to make your life a living hell when you're in your human form, and Leah will drive you crazy in wolf form. You'll have nowhere to run," I said clearly disgusted by his asshole behaviour. I smirked when he looked at me as if I were a stranger. _Ha! I guess Sammy didn't like me calling him on his bullshit, huh. Fucking nimrod._

"She isn't going anywhere, are you, Lee Lee?" Sam asked softly.

Any hesitation Leah had about coming with me was gone the second she heard Sam use her old nick name. I could see the anger literally overtake her. _Ah-__oh, danger Will Robinson!_

"Don't you fucking call me that, you son of a bitch! You have no fucking right!"

Sam was _so_ going to get hurt if he didn't keep his mouth shut. A big part of me hoped he wouldn't.

"You need to stay the fuck away from me, Sam. You complain about how much of a bitch I am when you're the goddamn reason I am this way in the first place. You _ruined_ my life! Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if I was allowed to move on, but you're not letting me, Sam. I'm sick and tired of this shit. No more pet names, no more sexual fantasies about me that we all know you have. I hate that I can see into your mind, it's literally killing me. _You left me!_ I shouldn't have to be seeing you fuck Emily and know that you're thinking about fucking me. Thinking about how different it is, and how you miss that little thing I used to do with my tongue!" Emily gasped in shock and I couldn't help but smirk in satisfaction. Leah was really letting it all out - _good for her._

"I don't need that crap, Sam. What I do need is for you to let me go. You need to get over me in a hurry, because I wont live like this, I can't do it, not anymore," she turned to me and nodded grimly. "And now - now it seems as if I don't have to."

_Does that mean what I think it means?_ I looked at her expectantly. "So are you... coming?"

"Hell yeah, I am," she grinned happily. It was actually kind of beautiful. It was the first time I had Leah genuinely grin about something, not just smirk. She slowly made her way towards me still wearing the same care-free grin. "Where are we going?" she asked curiously.

"I have no fucking clue. I'm pretty much flying blind at this point. But who cares, right? Anywhere is better than here," I shrugged my shoulders carelessly.

"How about France? I've always wanted to visit Jim Morrison's grave," Leah spoke absent-mindedly as if she was already envisioning our road trip. I wouldn't have pegged Leah for a Jim Morison fan. I mulled it over for a second before thinking, what the hell.

"Sure, why the hell not," I laughed. This was going to be so much fun, I could tell. Traveling around the world with Leah, having fun, working to pay off our traveling expenses... I could try to live my life like any other regular girl. Forget about Jacob...Edward, start a new life away from here.

I grinned at Leah. "This is going to be awesome! I do need to tell you that we can't go to Europe without at _least_ visiting Scotland. Don't tell anyone but I totally get turned on by a hot guy wearing a kilt."

Leah actually laughed at that. "Oh definitely. And the _accent...yum._ When are we leaving? Where are we going first? Shit I want to leave now, can we go right now?" she jumped excitedly like a little kid.

The pack was in shock. They all started talking at once. Most of them were against Leah leaving, but surprisingly some of them were for it. Seth gaped at Leah in shock. I saw him rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. When he still saw Leah's excited smile, he grinned broadly in response. He was clearly happy to see some resemblance to the girl his older sister was before the break-up with Sam occurred. He would support Leah's decision to leave unconditionally.

Sam, though, was clearly not as excited with the prospect of Leah leaving as Seth was. It was obvious to everyone to see he was fuming mad, but there was a hint of panic mixed in there, buried underneath all that anger. He still loved Leah and didn't want to let her go, but he wanted Emily too. _Asshole!_

"Leah you are _not_ leaving. You have a duty-"

Paul interrupted him. "Let her go Sam," he spoke softly. I never knew Paul could behave this way, today he had showed me an entire different side of him then the loud-mouthed hot-head I thought he was. He stood up for me against his Alpha, he was willing to kick Jake's ass, and now he was sticking up for Leah. I was starting to like this Paul, it was a far cry from the boy who wouldn't sit beside me because he was scared he was going to be contaminated with Cullen cooties. _Fucking moron._

"Leah's been through enough heartbreak, Sam," he continued calmly. "Usually a person gets the chance to let their wounds heal, but because of our fucked up wolf genes she's forced to see inside your head in wolf form. She gets salt thrown in her wounds every time see sees your memories with Emily," he sighed tiredly and glanced at Leah with an almost gentle expression on his face.

"Sam, I know you didn't ask for this. And I know technically it's not your fault. But it doesn't make it any easier for her to deal with. So just let her go. Give her wounds a chance to heal. When they do, she can come back to us."

I was looking at Paul like he just grew a second head out of his ass. I already knew he was going to do it but to actually see _him_ of all people standing up for Leah. We were all aware there was no love lost between them. It was one hell of a surprise, I'll give you that. Paul hated my leech-loving guts, and he didn't think much of Leah either. He always said that Leah was a bitter bitch who needed to let shit go instead of trying to make other people as miserable as she was.

Maybe he just wanted Leah gone so she wouldn't mentally torture him anymore. I dismissed the idea as soon as it popped into my head. He was genuinely trying to do the right thing, that much was obvious. I didn't know why, but I would be eternally grateful because I wasn't sure I could have managed to convince Sam to let her go without his help. I could see Sam's resigned expression and knew he had taken Paul's words to heart.

I quickly turned to Leah not willing to stay any longer and give Sam time to think of reasons Leah couldn't leave. "I'm going to leave now, you coming?" I asked holding my breath. This was it, this was going to be the final answer. Would she stick to her resolves and go, or...?

Leah nodded grinning widely, she looked younger somehow, as if a weight was lifted from her shoulders. She looked free.

"Yeah, I'm done here."

I quickly hugged Seth telling him we would see him again before we'd leave and walked over to Quil and Embry to say my goodbye's, giving Leah a chance to talk to her brother. After I hugged Quil and Embry and thanked them for their support I hesitantly made my way towards Paul, ignoring Emily that was trying to get my attention in the process.

I stopped when I reached his seat and looked up to find him watching me with an unreadable expression painting his features. "So, uhm... thanks - you know for everything. It was _really_ a good thing you did for Leah - and for me, and...uhm...yeah, thanks - okay, bye now," I muttered before I quickly turned around without waiting for a reaction and started to walk towards the front door. I had never had any trouble talking to Paul, but things were different now somehow. Usually we would just hurl insults at each other and be done with it, but now, his eyes and the expression in them made me feel...something. Something I couldn't decipher, something that made me want to run the other way.

"Hey!" Paul yelled making me halt my steps. I turned around hesitantly, wondering what he was going to say.

"Let me know how you're doing sometimes, okay?" he asked with a serious face. I could tell he was nervous because he kept tapping his finger on the side of his chair. I gaped at him in surprise. He wanted to stay in touch with me? Alright that was it, things were starting to get weirder by the second.

I stayed silent at Paul's request, not really knowing what to say. I cocked my eyebrow silently asking him to explain and smirked when Paul smiled sheepishly. "Well the way I see it, my fucked up genes pretty much ensure the fact that I'm going to be stuck in La Push for the rest of my unnatural life. Lets just say... I'm trying to live through you vicariously."

My smirk turned into a genuine smile at his declaration. "No problem, Paul, just text me your contact information later, Seth has my number."

He looked relieved, before giving me a sad smile. My attention drifted towards Leah who was actually skipping towards me after saying goodbye to Seth. Se turned to Paul giving him a knowing smile and I was surprised to see him actually return it. "I will. Good luck, Bella...Leah," he added her name, giving her a small nod.

Leah winked at Paul after sending him a toothy grin and dragged me out of the house without a backwards glance. I was relieved to be outside and I promised myself never to step foot in Sam and Emily's house again. Leah and I walked towards my truck slowly. "What do you think that was about?" I asked her curiously.

"What? You mean Paul?"

"Yeah. What was with the 'let's keep in touch' routine?"

Leah laughed cheerfully. "Seriously, Bella, sometimes you're so blind."

"What?" I asked confused.

"Paul is completely in love with you!"

I looked at her with complete shock. "Na-ah," I uttered with disbelief. Paul in love with me? Bella Swan leech-lover extraordinaire, I don't fucking think so.

Leah only laughed louder. "Come on, Bella, of course he is! But unlike some people he knows there's a big chance he'll imprint someday. So he wont start a relationship with someone knowing that it can only hurt them in the end."

She gave me a sad smile. "You wouldn't know it if you saw him...or talk to him for that matter - But there's a pretty honorable soul hidden underneath all that macho bullshit."

To say I was shocked would be a fucking understatement. Paul Lahote...in love...with...with me?

"What? _What?_ You're _kidding_, right? You're talking about Paul the guy who calls me leech-lover! The guy who can't sit in the same room as me because he complains I smell like a _leech-loving whore_," I cried not believing a single word she just said.

"Yup, one in the same. He does that on purpose, you know. He's protecting you. He thinks if he gets to close to you, if you actually start to like him, he wont be able to resist you. That's pretty much why he acts like an asshole all the time. The other reason is because he really is an asshole."

Could it really be true? I felt all warm and tingly inside. How the hell did I not see that? It made so much sense now that I knew. Some of the looks used to give me, the way he wouldn't sit with me, or touch me. I always thought he couldn't because it may hurt his delicate sensibility. I couldn't believe how blind I really was. The look he gave me when he asked me to keep in touch made so much sense now. I felt bad for him.

"How could I not have known that? He acts like an ass to protect me, that's just..."

I glanced at Leah who was jumping around as giddy as a schoolgirl. I was actually sorry I hadn't known about Paul before. I wasn't sure if it would have changed anything had I realized how he felt, probably not. After Edward left I was way too screwed up to trust anyone but Jake. Even if I had felt something for him, I probably would have let it go because I would have been too scared to do anything about it. That fucking Edward Cullen really messed with my head, but I was determined not to let Jake do the same.

The Jake I knew and loved would never have acted like he did just a couple of minutes ago. He would never have treated me like that. I wasn't going to feel depressed about what Jake did to me. I wasn't going to repeat what happened after Edward left. I needed to start living my life, not just go through the motions. I needed to make sure I wasn't going to miss out on things in life just because I was scared to get hurt, that was no way to live.

"Leah, you and I are going to change some things about our lives. My problem is that I'm too scared to do what I really want. So from now on I'm going to start making a list of all the things I would never have dared to do if I was still with Edward, and I'm gonna fucking do them! How about you, what do you want to change?"

She looked at me excitedly. I was seeing a whole different side of Leah that much was clear. She took a deep breath looking thoughtfully before she started speaking. "Since Sam fucked me over I haven't been able to look at a man without suspicion. I don't give them a chance, and I believe it's starting to interfere with my imprinting somehow."

She looked at me with determination. "I'm going to start giving people a chance again. I'm going to trust myself to put my faith in the right people. Starting with you. The first thing on my list is you. From now on I'm going to start trusting you. I mean you are after all my sister, since Charlie and mom are going to get married soon."

I smiled at her. "Good. I'm glad But if you get to do a first off of your list, I get to do one too."

I was scared as hell but a determination like I had never felt before came over me. I glanced at Leah wearing a shit eating grin on my face. "Come with me, and watch this. You're going to love it, trust me."

I walked back towards the house I thought I would never set foot in again, and walked inside.

Jacob jumped up when they saw me come back inside the house. "Bella..." he said with a guilty expression on his face. Fucking prick! I probably caught him talking about me behind my back.

I walked past him without giving him the time of day. Instead I let my eyes roam until I found the reason I walked back into a house I promised myself I wouldn't enter again, not even under penalty of death. I could hear Leah trailing behind me, snickering at my dismissal of Jacob. I quickly hid a smile. Yes, she would enjoy that.

I stopped when I spotted the person I was looking for. He was sitting on a chair slumped in his seat, he looked so sad and alone. I could clearly see he was hurting. He looked up when he heard me come in and his eyes lit up the second he saw me. _Fuck me._ How had I not seen that before? Was I the only one that didn't know? Jacob had to have known, there were no secrets among the pack. Is that why Jake always told me that Paul hated my guts?

When my eyes found Paul's I saw clearly for the first time that he loved me. His eyes were filled with love and pain, he was hurting. I think it was because I was leaving. The thought left me breathless and unable to move.

I still couldn't believe I had never seen it before. It was so clear now that I knew what to look for. I smiled warmly at Paul and made my way towards the chair he was still sitting on. The room was silent, everyone was wondering what my intentions were. The reason I came back. They didn't have to worry, though, because I had every intention of showing them exactly what I came back for.

I stopped walking when I reached him. I didn't say anything, I just stood there looking at him. God, he was beautiful. Suddenly I wished he would have told me how he felt. We could have at least become friends. Maybe now we still could, maybe if we stayed in touch...

Paul seemed surprised to see me. I looked at him, really looked at him. I used to try to do anything in my power to stay the hell away from him. Not that I had to try really hard, the guy couldn't sit still for five minutes when I was in the same room. I used to discreetly smell my armpits because I thought I smelled bad. I never smelled anything, but I figured with his wolf senses everything was enhanced. I used to take countless showers just to try to get him to stay in the same room as me, after I talked to Jake about it, I thought Paul didn't want to be around me because he hated me. Now I finally knew why, he loved me.

He always hurt my feelings by treating me like a leper, but now that I knew the truth, I understood. Being in close proximity to me hurt him. He didn't imprint on me, which I now know, basically meant that we weren't made for each other. It meant there was someone else out there for me, and that there is someone out there for him too. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret at that thought. If he wouldn't have been a werewolf perhaps we have ended up together. The fact that Paul had no control over his own love life, was a sad thought.

He was still watching me silently, waiting for me to make a move and I was starting to get nervous. Should I do this? Maybe I shouldn't. Maybe it would hurt him more in the end. If I were in his shoes I would want to know what it would feel like, not knowing and always wondering what if, would drive me crazy. But maybe he was different, maybe he wouldn't want me to. Before my embarrassment won the war that was now raging inside me, I made my decision and did what I came here to do.

Before Paul could say or do anything, I bent down and kissed him. He didn't kiss me back at first and I immediately panicked thinking I had made a terrible mistake, when he suddenly started kissing me back.

My lips enveloped his, and our tongues were touching each other hesitant first, but more daring later. I moaned softly, but there was no doubt in my mind that at least every werewolf in the room heard it.

Paul broke the kiss and stood up from his chair. He looked at me with a surprised expression on his face. I could see that he wanted to say something. So before he could, I slipped my arm around his neck and pulled him down by the back of his head, meeting his mouth with mine. This time he was the one that moaned, and hearing that sound come out of his mouth turned me on so much I felt myself get wet. I knew the werewolves could smell my desire because every wolf in the room shifted their stance, and Paul growled softly, pulling me closer. His mouth on mine felt so good I started to forget our audience, hell I had hard time remembering how to breathe.

Paul put his hands on the back of my thighs and lifted me against him. I could feel his erection pressing against me. I obviously wasn't the only one effected by our kiss. I wrapped my legs around him without breaking our kiss. He pulled me closer to him, his hands squeezing my ass. God, it felt amazing. I wished I could stay that way forever, safely in Paul's arms. Paul pulled his lips from mine and started kissing the side of my neck growling softly when I moaned. My neck had always been one of my soft spots and I moaned loudly when he bit me, making Paul groan softly against my neck. His soft growls did things to my body that should have been against the law. I wanted him, god, I wanted him. I hadn't felt Paul move but he must have because suddenly I was pressed against a wall with Paul kissing me into oblivion. I groaned pushing my wet core against him as best I could. I hated the fact that I was still wearing clothes, I didn't want to feel any barriers between us, I wanted to feel him inside me. I moaned breathlessly when his hand moved to my breast and he softly scratched my nipple with his nail. God, didn't think I could get any wetter but I was wrong.

Paul pushed his erection against me and grunted when I pushed back. "God, Bella.." he whimpered against my mouth breathlessly before kissing me again. I made a soft sound of protest when Paul suddenly stopped kissing me. He pressed his head against mine panting, thankfully not putting me down.

"Why did you stop?" I almost moaned.

He pulled his head back and looked at me with an amused expression. "They were telling us to," he said gesturing around to the people in the room. I looked around in wonder. Shit he made me forget I was a room filed with people, among them my soon to be brother and sister and my ex-boyfriend.

"Oh, I didn't even hear them," I admitted with a blush staining my cheeks. He chuckled softly, bringing his face closer to mine again. He was still holding me, so I tightened the grip of my legs around his waist and brought my face close to his ear, and started kissing his neck softly. I smiled in satisfaction when I heard his breath hitch.

Suddenly I pulled my face back and watched Paul with a confused expression on my face. "But why did you listen? Fuck them!"

He rested his head against mine again with an angry expression on his face. "Oh I know, believe me I know. But Sam ordered me to stop in his Alpha voice. I didn't really have a choice here," he said with an angry voice.

"Ooh," to say that I was disappointed would be the understatement of the fucking century. I scowled at Sam who was looking at me like he had never seen me before. "Spoil my fun why don't you," I pouted slightly causing Paul to bury his face in my neck and groan softly.

"Don't do that, I can't control myself when you do that."

I immediately perked up at hearing that. _Ha. I guess I'm not the only one having trouble remembering a room full of people watching us._

"Bella," Sam said interrupting my smug thoughts. "This isn't you. I understand you're in shock and angry with Jacob, but kissing random guys is not going to make Jacob jealous. You need to accept the fact that Jacob has found his imprint, and that there is nothing you can do to win him back," he spoke with a soft tone of voice. I understood that he was saying those things because he genuinely wanted to help me, but it didn't mean he was right though. When I kissed Paul, I could honestly say Jacob Back or his feelings didn't even enter my mind, and the second his lips touched mine, I forgot everything else I was thinking.

I could feel Paul tighten his grip on me painfully. He was so angry I could feel him shaking against me. I didn't try to make him let me go though, I just tightened my arms around his neck and started playing with his hair giving him a kiss that made him calm down instantly.

When I was sure Paul wasn't going to phase, I turned to look at Sam and laughed in his face. "You actually think I kissed Paul because I wanted to make Jacob jealous?"

Sam nodded his head solemnly making me laugh only louder. "Seriously?" I snorted. "I couldn't give a flying fuck about Jacob Black and his emotions. I kissed Paul because I wanted to, and you know what; It was the best fucking kiss I have ever had!"

Leah who had watched everything with amusement was now clutching her sides breathlessly, roaring with laughter. I didn't say anything else to Sam because I had already made my point more than clear. I looked at Paul regretfully and untangled myself from his embrace. "Well, I'm going to leave now. But let's do it again sometime," I said looking at Paul with a wicked grin. I reached out to caress his face softly before I quickly turned around and walked towards the door, before I reached it, Paul's voice made me pause.

"Then why did you? Why did you kiss me if not to make Jacob jealous?" he asked softly.

I turned around to look at Paul who seemed to be regretting asking that question. I smiled softly. "Because... I'm flying solo. From now on there'll be no one telling me what I can, or can't do," I answered honestly. "Leah will be my wing man of course, but she's got her own plane to worry about. Kissing you is something I wanted to do more than anything, and I knew this could be the only chance I had at doing that," I sighed sadly. "I wish you would have imprinted on me, Paul. I wish I could've been your soul-mate. I think with or without imprinting I could have loved you, and we would have been great together."

I smiled sadly when I caught the flash of pain in Paul's eyes. "How about you? Why did you kiss me back?"

He smiled. "Because I wanted to, more than anything," he answered. "I love being a wolf, I love killing leeches, protecting people. I love having a purpose and belonging to something greater than myself. But you make me wish I wasn't a werewolf. You make me wish things could have been different," he smiled wistfully, "You're right, we would have been great together."

I grinned wickedly. "I'll be seeing you, Lahote."

I gave him one last look, turned around and walked away. Leah followed in my wake still laughing her ass off choking out something about Sam's face and Jake fainting, trying to stand up straight, but failing.


	4. Lonely Too

**Disclaimer:** _I don't own Twilight in any way, shape, or form._

**A/N:**_ I have re-written this story, I recommend you start re-reading the first chapter. Story re-written since 24-11-2011._

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_Chapter Four: Lonely Too_

**Bella**

The first thing Leah and I did after leaving Sam's house was talk to Sue and Charlie about our plans. They were not pleased. Charlie didn't want to let me go especially not without a chosen destination in sight. Even as the sheriff of a small town he had encountered more than his fair share of murders and other bad things. He didn't feel comfortable with the thought of letting me out into the big bad world, not with only Leah to guard my back. It wasn't as if I could have explained to him that I had a big bad wolf to protect me from the big bad world.

Although he hated the thought of me leaving home to escape the heartbreak caused by Jake, he understood my desire of wanting to leave Forks and all my bad memories behind. Especially now that Jake was breaking up with me to be with someone else. One of Charlie's reasons for not wanting me to leave home was his worry I'd revert back to my zombie days, like I had with Edward's leaving. There was nothing I could do to convince him otherwise so I just let it go. When I first told Charlie about Jake and what he did, he freaked out. He was pissed off beyond reason and Leah actually had to sit on him until he promised not to take his shotgun and go after Jake to shoot him where the sun doesn't shine. It was actually pretty funny in retrospect.

"Dammit, Leah, get off of me right this second!"

"Not until you calm down and promise not to shoot him, Charlie. I know you _really_ want to hurt Jake, _believe me_ I know. But that's not what Bella needs right now," Leah stated calmly, restraining Charlie effortlessly.

"But it's what Jacob needs," Charlie grunted breathlessly trying to throw Leah off of him. "I promised that boy - I _promised_ I would kill him if he hurt my Bella, I'm not one to break my word, Leah. Now get the hell off of me!"

"Nope," she replied casually popping the p.

Charlie's face turned red with effort as he tried to dislodge Leah from his back. "Jesus, Leah! What the hell have you been eating? You know, I actually feel little better about you and Bella going off to god knows where if you can restrain me like this."

Leah grinned widely. "Ah, that's such a nice thing to say, and usually flattery will get you everywhere with me, but not this time. Sorry, Chief."

"Leah..." Charlie groaned finally giving up his struggling. I grinned at Leah giving her two thumbs up for a job well done.

Charlie seeing the gesture scowled at me. "Fine," he sighed reluctantly. "I promise not to hurt that little-... not much anyway."

"Ah, come on, Chief, you shouldn't worry about Jacob Black, Paul already took care of it."

"Who?" Charlie asked the same time I asked, "He did?"

"Yep," Leah answered lightly after getting of Charlie's back in one smooth move. "After Jacob regained conscious thought, he decided to fight Paul, Paul kicked his ass all over La Push before warning him to stay the fuck away from you. I hear it was a good show, I regret missing it."

I gaped at Leah in shock. "Wait, what do you mean regained conscious thought? When was this?"

Leah looked puzzled. "Didn't I tell you? After you-" she broke off uncomfortably glancing at Charlie. "..._Kissed_ Paul. Jacob went into shock or something. The dude was nearly catatonic. I thought he fainted," she chuckled mirthfully at the thought. "It was the funniest shit I ever saw. Anyway, when he snapped out of his vacation to La La land, he made the stupid mistake of starting shit with Paul - lets just say he won't make that mistake again...ever."

I stared at Leah trying to wrap my mind around what she just told us. Paul kicked Jacob's ass...that was the sweetest thing ever. I Wanted to drive down to La Push and kiss him all over again. I should thank him for doing that - maybe I should bake him a pie... or, knowing him, a couple.

"So, Who is this Paul then, and why were you kissing him?" Charlie asked wearing a small frown.

I blushed but couldn't keep the tiny self-satisfied smirk off my face. "Paul is...a friend. I kissed him because I wanted to - I don't know it seemed like a good idea at the time, can't say I regret it, though."

"Well if he kicked Jacob's ass then he's okay in my book, he better not hurt you though, otherwise I'll shoot him. Why don't you invite him over so I can casually mention my gun."

I smiled a the thought but couldn't help but feel a small pang of regret, perhaps in another situation one without all this fucked up imprinting shit, I would have done just that. "No, Charlie, I already told you, Paul and I aren't like that, we're just friends."

"Hump, must be a good friend then if you go around kissing him all the time," he replied sceptically causing Leah to chortle in amusement. She really had changed.

Charlie having known Leah for a while and never having seen her laugh turned to me with raised eyebrows. I shrugged. "She really wants to get out of here, dad. It will be good for her, the thought alone is obviously having a positive effect as you can clearly see. I feel the same," I pleaded quietly. Leah quieted down and watched us anxiously. We had talked about leaving Forks regardless of how our family felt about it, it didn't mean we didn't want their approval, though. We both waited for Charlie to make up his mind with bated breath.

"Fine! But you better take care of each other," Charlie said sounding resigned.

I immediately hugged Charlie to thank him and couldn't quite hide my shock when I felt Leah do the same.

Charlie smiled in satisfaction knowing we would leave together and take care of each other. In his mind I would at least have family with me on my travels, even if it wasn't family by blood. I think for him taking Lea with me was the ultimate proof that I wasn't planning on leaving him. Charlie thought that me leaving with Leah meant that I had to come back to Forks eventually. Poor guy, I didn't have it in me to break his heart so I stayed silent. The truth was I had no intention of coming back to Forks. A visit, maybe...probably. But to live here again? There was no way in hell that was ever going to happen. Forks and I...we were done with each other. I was convinced the town hated me as much as I hated it, so believe me when I say that it was a mutual decision.

After we succeeded in talking Charlie into giving us our blessing we found that talking Sue into letting Leah go was a whole different matter. Unlike Charlie, Sue, being on the tribal council, knew everything there was to know about the tribe protectors. Sue Clearwater thought Leah was turning her back on her duty, her heritage, and her pack. The guilt trip that woman tried to lay on Leah pissed me the hell off.

"We cannot allow you to do this, we cannot allow you to turn your back on your pack, have you no shame, Leah? What would your father think of you abandoning you pack, abandoning your brother?"

I clenched my jaw when I saw Leah flinch at the harsh words uttered by her own mother. I resisted the urge to punch Sue and kept quiet trusting Leah to handle this by herself.

"Mom, look...it's not my intention to abandon anyone, but I can't stay here, you have to understand. I don't want to-"

"Because of Sam? You plan to disgrace your ancestors because you can't handle seeing him with Emily?" Sue asked angrily.

Leah sighed tiredly. "Yes, Sam is a big part of it I'll admit that, but it's not the only reason I want to leave La Push. I was never meant to be a wolf and you know that. I'm the first woman to have ever inherited the gene, if it wasn't for those fucking Cullens living nearby I would never have shifted."

Sue's face twisted in anger a that statement. "She is partly to blame for that!" she yelled pointing at me. I glared but kept my mouth closed. I was so not taking the blame for that one. I didn't even know the wolves existed when the Cullens lived here. They came here before I moved from Phoenix and I was not responsible for their actions. Sue could kiss my ass for all I cared and if she didn't stop trying to guilt Leah into staying, I was opening my mouth and telling her exactly what I thought of her. Stupid hag.

"She is to blame for you being able to phase! If it wasn't for her they would've left, and now you come here and dare to tell me you're abandoning your family, your pack and you tribe to travel around the world for your own amusement? What about the people you're leaving behind? What about Seth? What about your pack? What abou-"

"What about me?" Leah suddenly screamed halting her mother mid rant. "What about me, huh? Did you once stop to think about me in all of this? You knew - _you knew_ why Sam left me and you didn't tell me. You left me thinking it was something I did. You let me doubt myself, let me think I wasn't pretty enough, or smart enough. You left me in the dark and then when Sam suddenly ended up with Emily you were happy for them - _happy_. What about me? Why weren't you on my side in all of this? Because you were so obviously happy with their new relationship you only helped cement the thought in my mind that it was my fault that Sam didn't want me anymore!"

I watched with shock as Leah poured out her heart. I hadn't even realized how bad her heartbreak really was. Yeah sure it was bad enough that Sam left her for her cousin. But then not knowing why he did and seeing your mother, the one who should be in your corner, be happy for them was fucked up on a whole other level.

"Leah, you weren't meant to be together. If you were he would have imprinted on you," Sue sighed tiredly.

"I didn't know that! All I knew was that my boyfriend - the one person I loved more than anything in this world disappeared, came back, broke up with me, hooked up with my cousin a week later, and you were happy about it!" Leah started shaking.

_Oh-oh not good. _I needed to interrupt before Leah phased and decided to snack on her mother. I couldn' really blame Leah if she did 'cause...yeah, but I was pretty sure she wasn't going to like it when she came back to her senses. "Look, Sue, Leah needs to get out of here, okay."

Sue glared at me. "You presume to tell my what my daughter needs?" she asked indignantly.

_Well that shit just pisses me off._ "I don't presume to tell you anything, Leah just did. I don't know what the hell is going on with all of you and it isn't any of my business. Now I don't really know Leah very well, Partially because she doesn't let people get to know her and partly because she hates my guts, but even I can clearly see she's drowning. Leah is barely hanging on by a thread and the fact that you need me to tell you this, tells me more than I ever want to know about your parenting skills. You need to make a decision as a parent for once, and not as an elder of the tribe," Sue gaped at me in outrage but I couldn't give a flying fuck what she thought. It needed to be said and I could only hope Leah wasn't going to kick my ass for being rude and insulting to her mother.

I hesitantly turned to Leah to determine her reaction and held back a sigh of relief when I saw she wasn't mad at me. She eyed me with a mixture of shock and irritation but for some reason I had a feeling the irritation wasn't directed at me but at herself.

She turned to Sue who was still gaping at me. "Mom, I need this. Staying in La Push is killing me. The pack can handle things without my help. Regardless of what you say, I'm going to do this. I'm twenty years old and I don't need your permission. I'm only here out of courtesy," she spoke determinately and I knew nothing was going to keep her from leaving with me. I was glad. Even though I would've left without Leah, I was happy she was coming with me I knew with absolute certainty that if she would stay here, the next time I would visit Forks was to attend her funeral.

I turned to Sue to see how she was going to react. My mind was racing with scenarios from 'Oh baby, I'm so sorry' to 'we will talk about this without an audience'. I gaped when Sue just ignored everything her daughter just confessed to her and said, "No! You are not leaving, I won't allow you to disgrace my for-fathers!"

Yeah...the conversation went down hill from that.

It worked out in the end, though. When we left Forks we did so with Sue's blessing...kind of. She didn't really agree. She even tried to have Sam order Leah to stay here. But Sam said no. I think that was the first time in a long while that I felt something resembling respect for Sam. He was still an asshole in my book, but I could admire him for finding the strength to let Leah go in the end. I knew from personal experience that it wasn't an easy thing to do. After that I told Leah we needed to get the fuck out of dodge before the Council ordered Sam to put an edict on Leah that would prohibit her from leaving Washington. I wouldn't put it past Sue Clearwater to manipulate the tribe elders and Sam if she had to. That woman was nothing if not persistent.

Leah and I had a lot of talks about where we wanted to go and what kind of places we wanted to visit. We both agreed that our first stop would be France. We would figure out where we'd go from there. Why go so far? Well lets just say we thought it would be best to put a couple of oceans between us and La Push. Our plan was to roam around Europe and work where we could to earn money in order to pay for our travels and living expenses. Other than that, we were going to wing it. It was the flying solo and blind part of my plan.

The good thing was that other than normal girls who went on these kind of trips, we wouldn't have to worry about human predators. Leah was more than capable to deal with rapists, thieves and the occasional serial killer. She was more worried about the vampires that walked around this earth. She knew we would be a target regardless, seeing as how we were two single woman in a foreign country. But our main problem was the fact that Leah was a wolf. She wasn't going to stop phasing and that meant where ever we would be, if there were vampires in the neighborhood, they would definitely smell her and would in all likely hood come to investigate. We weren't sure if Leah being a wolf was such a good thing. It definitely wasn't bad, but it brought a whole other set of problems with it. In the end I managed to convince Leah to stop worrying about it and deal with it when happened.

First order of business was packing. We weren't taking a lot of stuff with us just enough to fit in a backpack. We were planning on buying what we needed when we needed it. I did take my Ipad with me. On it was an entire list of books including my favorites. I would miss holding the real thing in my hands, but realistically speaking it was just impossible to bring books with us on our trip.

We packed up our stuff, said goodbye to our family and friends, and left for adventure - or ran from our broken hearts. Whichever way you want to look at it I guess.

**Jasper**

I ran through the forest on my prey's trail, knowing it could try to run but it couldn't hide. Its life was over from the moment its scent reached my nose. I jumped and with a growl landed on my prey. My teeth found its throat and with one rip warm blood flooded my mouth. It tasted like shit. I never enjoyed the taste of animal blood, I hated it, but with being an empath I hated to feel the fear and terror my human victims felt before I killed them more. Sustaining myself on animal blood was preferable to that. I dropped my prey's carcass to the ground and turned to head home.

Home. It was funny how much pain that one small word could make me feel. I didn't have a home anymore. Not since my bitch of an ex-wife, Alice, threw me out of ours five years ago. I ignored the sharp burst of pain I felt in my chest at the thought of my former home and family. I missed the Cullens. I missed hanging out with Emmet and Rosalie, missed the love I could feel between Carlisle and Esmé, hell I even missed Edward with his 'woe is me' emotions. Who I didn't miss though, was Alice.

Alice fucking Cullen. Oh how I longed to kill the miserable bitch. She was the reason for my current depression. The reason why I was tired of my un-life in the first place. Because of her actions, I was so depressed that If I were human I probably would have killed myself. But since I wasn't, I couldn't. Sure, I could have gone to visit the Volturi, ask them to end my dreary existence. But knowing them, I'd probably get drafted. And knowing how they operated it wouldn't be no 'be all you can be' either, probably more like an 'eat all you can eat' thing. I had no intention of falling into that particular death-trap. Those Volturi fuckers were real slick like. They acquired themselves a vampire that had the ability to form bonds between people, tie them closer together, separate them. Before I'd know it I'd be eating humans left and right while calling those Volturi fuckers master. Yeah right, like I would call anyone master. Not fucking likely!

No, that path wasn't one I would willingly walk again, I would not feed off humans. Not because I didn't enjoy it. God no! There was nothing like some good old fashion AB negative blood. But other than the fact that I hated to feel their emotions as I drained them, I didn't eat humans for two reasons, the first one being my parents. Esmé and Carlisle Cullen only fed off of animal blood and it would break their hearts to see their son running around with red eyes. I knew that because they loved me they would accept it as my decision, but I didn't want to disappoint them. The other reason I didn't feed off human blood was less noble and more out of spite. It was because of Alice, my ex-wife.

I guess the second reason calls for an explanation.

I used to be part of the Cullen family, I technically still am. They took me and my bitch of a mate in, showed us how to hunt animals, treated me like a son. They were good people. I bonded with every one of them. Loved them like they were my real parents and brothers and sister. To be honest, I still did. I would still be with them today if it wasn't for my bitch of a mate. Alice...fucking Alice. I hated her screeching ass. I changed who I was for her, I did everything she told me to do. She had my balls wrapped around her tiny fingers with that fucked up parlor trick she calls a gift. You see, Alice could see the future, and when we first met she told me we belonged together. Me, being the one who originally started the emo movement, was stupid enough to take her word for it. That's how desperate I was at that point in my life. I thought I finally found my mate, that I could finally find some semblance of peace. I was a fucking idiot.

Alice told me she had received a vision of us finding a family that fed off of animal blood, and that we would be happy living among them. I was ecstatic, I didn't want to kill humans anymore. By being an empath I had the ability to feel and influence other people's emotions, and it made it very difficult to enjoy human blood when I could feel my victim's terror as if it was my own. I was more than ready to try a different kind of life and I felt hopeful I could start a new one without killing.

Alice's vision of a peaceful future turned out to be more difficult than I imagined it would be. Mostly because the Cullens liked to pretend at being human. It brought them, and since I was a part of their family, me, in close proximity to humans testing the limits of my hunger for blood. Alice had little to no problems, she took to our new life style like a fish in water. Me, I had a bit more difficulty then that. Due to my empathic ability I not only had to struggle with my blood-lust, but that of my entire family, it left me as the weak link for the first time in my existence and I didn't particularly enjoy the feeling.

I did try though, for myself and for Alice. I loved her and I would have done anything for her. I thought she loved me too, but I was wrong. Alice and I had been together for decades and I thought I knew everything there was to know about my mate, but apparently we were not together long enough for her to mention that she wasn't my true mate. Must have slipped her fucking mind.

Our life was wonderful and I thought things couldn't go wrong until she just stood up one day and out of the fucking blue told me, "I have to go. I need to go find my true mate."

_What the fuck?_

She left without giving me any kind of explanation. Edward came down to tell me he had seen Alice's vision and it was about her mate. When I told him I was Alice's mate Edward just looked at me with a pitying expression on his face that made me want to throw him in a puddle of gasoline and light his ass on fire. He was quite helpful in explaining that Alice wasn't my true mate and that she had known but didn't think it important enough to inform me of that fact. I almost killed Edward for that one, especially when he said he had known all along but didn't think it was his business to interfere. He 'kindly' explained that as an empath I should have known Alice was hiding something, and recommended I work on trying to control my gift. I ripped his arm off and beat him with it and replied that since he was a mind-reader, he should have seen it coming and that it seemed I wasn't the only one that needed to hone his ability. I felt better after that.

So not feeding off of humans was to show Alice that I could control myself, and that I didn't need her in my life. That stupid bitch thought I'd fall of the wagon the second she left me, but I didn't. I showed her that I could do it without her fucked up visions. I could live with drinking blood that tasted like crap, especially if that meant proving Alice wrong.

After Alice left me, I left the family. Not for good, just as long as I needed to get over the fact that I had just wasted sixty fucking years of my life on that manipulating bitch. I still keep in touch with my family, especially Emmet.

Emmet had called a lot this past two years. Edward had some problems with a human and they had to leave the place where they were living. Emmet took it real hard because he got close to the girl and didn't want to leave her behind. I didn't understand the entire situation, but I did wonder how Rose felt about Emmet getting close to another woman, even if she was just a human. If I knew Rose, she gave her a hard time. Poor girl.

Thinking about Emmet and Rose made me feel homesick. At least enough to think about visiting them in the near future. But I would have to make sure that The-Evil-Bitch-That-Was-Rejected-From-Hell-Itself wouldn't be there. Otherwise I wouldn't set one foot in their home. To be honest I wasn't sure how long I could keep on resisting Esme's pleading phone calls to come home. It felt good to be missed. For now though, I had made other plans. I was going to Texas to visit my brother Peter. And knowing Peter, I had a feeling he was expecting me.

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**A/N:** _Thank yo for all your reviews, you guys are amazing. Again, I have no beta so if you see any mistakes, please feel free to tell me. I'd love to hear what you think. PM or review if you have any questions, okay._


	5. We're Alright

**Disclaimer:** _I don't own Twilight in any way, shape, or form, I wish I did because I would love me some Jasper...or Paul...or Peter...or - well you get my drift._

**A/N:**_ I have re-written this story, I recommend you start re-reading the first chapter. Story re-written since 24-11-2011._

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_Chapter Four - We're Alright_

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**Bella**

_One year after leaving Forks..._

_._

"Fuck, Bella! I swear to God I can't work here for another second. I'm going in and quitting right fucking now!" Leah yelled at the top of her longs.

I groaned loudly cradling my head in my hands. I was glad I pulled her out with me into the back alley under the pretense of disposing a garbage bag otherwise the entire restaurant would have heard her yell. "Leah, for cryin' out loud just let it go. Please?" I pleaded exasperated. Being around Leah was like being around an emotional pregnant woman on PCP, her mood swings were giving me motion sickness.

"Let it go? _Let it go?_ Are you out of your leech-loving mind? This motherfucker is worse the Sam in alpha mode! If he gives me one more order I'm going to rearrange his fucking face, and believe me when I say, it wont be pretty," Leah yelled, looking like she was ready to explode.

_Fuck me! Leah is pissed._ A pissed off Leah usually meant I would curse myself at the end of the night for wearing high heals instead of running shoes. I had to admit though, that somehow Leah managed to turn, even something as running for my life, into fun.

"Leah, for the love of all that is holy calm the fuck down. Jean-Luc is not Sam!" I laughed. "Christ Leah, the dude wears pink suits and is as gay as a fruitcake," I couldn't contain my mirth at the idea of Sam running around La Push wearing a bright pink suit. I hoped the though ran through Leah's mind too, it would crack Paul up to see it in her mind the next time she phased. And I wasn't even gonna think about how much fun Quil was going to have with that picture.

"So? What do his clothes have to do with it? Besides, who the fuck ever said Sam isn't gay? I think he is. How else do you explain the fact that he let the hotness that is me go?" she boasted wearing a shit-eating grin. I was happy to see she was in a state of mind where she could easily joke about Sam and their previous cluster-fuck of a relationship. Leah had really come a long way.

"Anyway," she continued. "You know very well I was talking about his ordering us around and treating us like his own personal minions. That's the part that is reminding me of Sam Uley. This asshole is not even our boss and still he orders us to do things like we're part of his own private army. I hate to say it - wait, no, I really don't, but I think we should both quit and move on. I'm sick and tired of this crap. France is pretty cool and all, but it's not for me."

I froze in shock. What the hell was she saying? Did she really just say she wants to go back to Forks. I felt panic rise. I couldn't go back there..._not ever_.

"What?" I yelled. "You want to quit working for the wannabe alpha-dog that's been ordering you around, only to go back to the real alpha-dog who will do the same if not more amount of ordering? You are out of your fucking mind! Besides, Leah, this is Paris the city of love and I ain't going home until I get some fucking love, or more accurately, sex. I'm so not going back to Washington with my V-card safely tucked into my back-pocket," I whined.

It was true, I needed to get laid...badly. My new mission in live was to get rid of my virginity. Lord knows Edward didn't want it. I had come to think it was because he was secretly gay. Stupid sissy couldn't even accidentally touch my boob without feeling the need to scrub his hands intensively.

"No!" Leah yelled. "Hell no! I'm not going home either. I'm having way too much fun to go back to La Push and play nice with all those uptight fuckers," Leah shuddered as if the thought alone was making her ill. I could appreciate the sentiment.

She gave me a wicked grin "I'm not going back until I have something to show for it, preferably something I can rub in Sam's face. My secret plan is to imprint on a hot as hell rich guy who can buy the Rez a couple of times over and still have enough money growing out of his ass," she sighed dreamily, completely entranced by her fantasy.

"After I finally find my imprint's fine ass, I'm taking him home with me, walk up to Sam and say; up yours motherfucker," she grinned wickedly before coming back to herself. She looked at me sighing dejectedly. "If I ever find him that is. The imprint god probably forgot to reserve an imprint for little old me," she pouted half jokingly. I could see the sadness in her eyes at the thought of never finding her imprint and dying alone. I knew Leah would never start a relationship with anyone other than her imprint. Even if she would never imprint she wasn't going to take the risk of hurting someone the same way she was hurt by Sam and I was hurt by Jake. Leah Clearwater was many things but a hypocrite wasn't one of them.

"Oh please," I snorted, making sure to keep my voice light. "You are so getting an imprint. I'm the one who is going to be dying alone surrounded by a bunch of stupid cats. Knowing my luck by then I'll probably be a bitter miserable old bat and Edward fucking Cullen will show up at my death-bed to tell me how truly sorry he is to see me go," I chuckled with mirth at the thought. The stupid dick would probably do just that.

Leah frowned. "You do know that I'll be there, right? At your deathbed. You'll never die alone, not if I'm still alive and kicking," she said with a seriousness I wasn't expecting. I didn't want to go into any deep shit right now. Thinking about dying alone scared the living day-light out of me so I just ignored the heaviness and continued to joke.

I smirked at Leah evilly. "You got that right, Clearwater! I am not dying alone. I'll be keeping a flamethrower close by just in case the fucker does decide to come by and keep me company. When I go, he goes too."

Leah burst into laughter. "Wouldn't you be like eighty or something? How exactly were you planning on getting the drop on a vampire with enhanced senses, speed, and strength?"

"I don't know," I answered not even slightly deterred when she pointed out the flaw in my plan. "I haven't exactly planned that part, yet. But I figure I've got like sixty years to think about it, I'm pretty sure I'll come up with some shit to make it work by then. I'm not worried, it'll come to me," I smiled gleefully at the thought of lighting Edward Cullen on fire on my death-bed. That would be an awesome way to go.

Leah just rolled her eyes "Okay, killer granny, let's get back to our current problem, shall we. I wasn't talking about going home, hell no. I was talking about moving on from this country and perhaps check out another one. Come on, Bells, aren't you getting tired of France? Don't you want to get the hell out of here?" she asked almost jumping up and down with excitement. She reminded me off a certain pixy I would rather forget about.

"Yeah actually, you're right. I am tired of it," I smiled softly. "But where will we go? We're not going back home yet, right? I don't mean Forks," I hastily added when I saw Leah was about to interrupt. "I've been thinking about going on a road trip around America, you know, once we're ready to leave Europe."

Leah nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, that's actually a pretty good idea, Swan. I haven't seen much of our own country outside of Washington, it might be fun."

I hesitated, not really sure how to bring up the one objection I had to this plan and the reason I hadn't brought it up before. "What about the pack?" I asked softly. I wasn't sure Leah could deny her Alpha if he ordered her to come home. So far Sam hadn't, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to in the future. My greatest fear at the moment was Leah leaving me. I had grown close to the angry woman who was so hurt in the past, she made sure to cut herself off from emotional attachments. She truly had become my sister, and even though we argued and Leah bitched about me all the time, I knew she felt the same. I knew Sam could order her to come home just as easily if she was in Europe as it was in America, but somehow, I was hesitant to take that chance.

"What about them?" Leah replied easily.

"I know they've been whining about you going back home, will it be easier for them to force you when you're closer to La Push?"

"Nah," she shrugged carelessly. "Honestly Bella, I don't know what's with your obsession of making sure we stay far away from Washington. The distance doesn't mean shit, Sam could order me even if I were on the fucking moon so to speak, but he won't."

"Why not?" I asked surprised at how sure she sounded. I wasn't half as sure as Leah seemed to be. She was finally getting better and letting go of her past and Sam. I couldn't understand why they couldn't just leave her the hell alone. It pissed me off.

The first time Leah phased away from them they immediately started asking when she was coming home. We were gone for _three fucking months_. Since then the fuckers had been pestering her every time she phased. 'When are you coming home?' 'Are you done abandoning your pack and heritage?' 'How is Bella? Is she ready to forgive me?' That one was Jake, as you can imagine. He was obviously not playing with a full deck. His imprint decided that she didn't want to take him as her lover. She wanted Jake in her life as her best friend and big brother figure. Jake, having to conform himself to her wishes, was currently without a girlfriend and was suffering under the delusion he could try to win me back. _Fucking idiot._

According to Leah, Paul having caught on to his plan, already kicked his ass because of it. Apparently Paul was having a couple of naughty thoughts about me. When she told me about them, I couldn't help but smirk. I could completely relate because I had a couple of intense dreams about him too. Anyway, Jake witnessing some of his fantasies while they were all phased got all 'that's my girl you're thinking about!' Pff as if. Motherfucker was insane if he thought for even one second that I'd be stupid enough to talk to his hairy ass, let alone anything else. But thank god Paul kicked his ass and dissuaded him from referring to me as his girl again.

Paul...my hero. If it wasn't for that fucking imprinting shit I would have done more than kissing him into oblivion. Come to think of it, if I ever did get back to Forks and found him still imprint free, I was going to fuck his brains out. Hopefully I would have lost my virginity by then, if not, I was pretty sure he wouldn't mind getting rid of it for me.

Leah started answering my question breaking me out of my Paul-filled thoughts. She grinned smugly. "I had a nice little chat with Sam that ended in him promising me he wouldn't order me back to La Push unless it was a case of life and death for someone from the pack or their imprint. He promised not to order me back unless he absolutely had no other choice," she finished with a self-satisfied grin.

"What?" I exclaimed in surprise. "When the hell did this happen? How did it happen?"

Leah smiled brightly. "Yesterday. I just hadn't gotten around to telling you yet."

"But - why? Why would he do that?"

Leah's bright smile turned into a wicked smirk. "Well, I pretty much guilted him into it," she paused thoughtfully. "There may have been a bit of blackmail involved."

I gaped at her in shock, not because I couldn't believe she would ever do such a thing, hell no, Leah would blackmail Mother Theresa if she could get something out of it, but because I couldn't believe it worked on Sam Uley. Sam was a bastard, that was for sure, but not a stupid bastard. "Again I ask, how?"

Leah smiled mischievously. " Well, I started with the whole You-Owe-Me-For-Ditching-Me-For-My-Cousin-I-Don't-Care-If-It-Was-Forced-Mating-Caused-By-Our-Fucked-Up-Mutant-Genes thing, and when that didn't exactly work I hinted at telling Emily all about his fantasies and how I still play a major part in all of them. When I told Emily he still thinks about me when he's having sex with her I didn't go into detail. So when I told Sam I would in the future if he didn't leave me the hell alone, I captured his attention in a hurry."

_Oh my god._ "But why didn't he Alpha-order you not to tell her?" Sam wouldn't overlook that he wasn't that stupid.

Leah grinned secretively. "Remember that little book I gave you? The blue one?"

I nodded hesitantly not really sure where she was going with that question. "The one you told me to keep hidden from you even if you asked?"

"Uh-huh," Leah nodded smugly. I looked at her bemusedly still not understanding what it had to do with Sam. When she gave me the book I figured it was important to her and that she didn't want the rest of the pack to know where it was. It had to be pretty hard for her not really able to hide anything with the rest of the pack being able to read her mind. I hid it and promptly forgot all about it figuring she would tell me if she wanted me to know. Now I wondered if I should have read, whatever the hell it was she gave me, first.

"Well that little book is filled with every fantasy and thought that I picked up from Sam's head about me. It's basically Sam's disgusting little secret," she chuckled darkly. "That asshole owes me, and that book is my insurance policy."

"Oh. Ew, ew, _ew_! I did _not_ need to know that!" I yelled covering my ears. Wait, she gave me a book filled with Sam's fantasies about a woman that was not his imprint? I gulped nervously._ Oh fuck!_ She was going to get me killed, the idiot placed me directly between Sam and his imprint by giving me that stupid book. I was going to be dead meat. "He's going to kill me, you know that, right?"

Leah grinned warmly. "Of course not, Bee. Sam doesn't know you have it, don't worry, I wouldn't put you in danger like that."

I sighed tiredly feeling the start of a headache coming. Why oh why did I decide I needed to move to Forks? My life was so much simpler before all this supernatural shit. "Won't he just...you know - read your mind?" I groaned at the thought. "Aw hell, Leah, that little shit is going to Alpha-order you to retrieve that book at all costs and I'm going to be dog chow! What the fuck?"

Leah laughed at the expression on my face. "Don't worry about it. He doesn't know it exists. I can keep shit to myself. Whenever I phase I just keep thinking about you and Cullen doing the nasty. It drives the pack insane. He doesn't know shit and is too scared of my threat to risk it. Besides, I think the prick _likes_ having me gone. Sure the others bitch and moan about it but I think it's easier for all of them now that I don't phase that often. I guess they're actually happier not having me around."

Her voice sounded sad and I knew that whatever the hell else the pack was to Leah, they were family first and the fact that she could feel their happiness at her absence was clearly hurting her. I nodded quietly taking Leah's hand. "Their loss, my gain," I said softly looking her in the eye to show her how happy I was to have her with me.

"She smiled brightly. "Yeah, you're right, fuck 'em."

I leaned against the alley wall next to the dumpster and cringed at the foul odor. This was so not the place to have a heart to heart conversation. Somehow Leah and I always had our most important conversation at the strangest locations. "So where do you want to go?" I asked breaking the comfortable silence between us.

"Scotland," Leah replied immediately. "Seriously, I'm not going back to America without seeing a Highlander wearing a kilt," she said with glassy eyes filled with lust. Leah was obviously planning on getting her perv on and I couldn't really say I minded.

Scotland. Land of kilts, Whiskey, Sean Connery and Ewen McGregor. I grinned. Hell yeah we could go there! We would have a blast. before I could answer Leah she hushed me. I started to ask her what the hell her problem was but quickly shut up when I saw her body shake.

_Oh hell no!_ Not a fucking vampire, not now. I swallowed a groan and turned to Leah to see what she wanted me to do. This was the ssecond vampire we encountered since we left Forks a year ago. If it wasn't for the company of my werewolf sister I might have forgotten all about the supernatural..._yeah, not really._

Leah was still shaking like a drug-addict with withdrawal symptoms and I watched as she systematically kept clenching and un-clenching her fists. I wondered where the vampire exactly was. I had to admit I was a bit worried. Leah hadn't killed a vampire in over six months and apart from the last time she had, she always had back-up. Would she be okay? Was Leah strong enough to kill this vampire all by herself? I sure as hell wasn't going to be any kind of help unless she wanted me to play bait. I could play bait. My scent was like catnip for vampires.

"It kinda smells out here, Bee," Leah suddenly said calmly. "Why don't you go inside, I'll finish up here and find you when I'm done, okay?" I knew she wanted me to go inside I understood it was the best move for me and her, I would be safe and she wouldn't have to worry about me. I wouldn't be a distraction. I understood this, but it didn't mean I was going to listen to her and leave her out here all on her own. I wasn't going to be a big help - or any help really, but that didn't mean I was going to abandon her.

"Nah, I'm good. I'll wait for you, it's not like I've got something else to do," I was surprised I managed to choke out the words. Despite my bravery I was scared as hell and not all of my fear was reserved for the vampire. I knew Leah was going to kill me for pulling this stunt, it's why I didn't dare to look her in the eye as I spoke.

"No _really_, Bella, I don't need your help. You're _in the way_ as it is, go back _inside_ before the boss kicks your ass."

Oh crap, Leah was pissed. Well, if I was lucky the vampire would kill me before Leah got her hands on me, out of the two deaths, I was pretty sure I'd prefer the vamp's over Leah's. Less painful. I straightened my back, took a deep breath, and let my eyes seek out Leah's. The anger burning in her brown eyes was frightening, but it also strengthened my resolve. If Leah was going to be fighting a vampire all on her own, the least I could do was stay and watch. I opened my mouth to tell her I wasn't leaving her, but before I could make a sound, Leah spoke.

"Your answer better be yes, Swan, or I'm slapping your ass silly."

I couldn't help it, I laughed. She was just so..._Leah_, I couldn't help but like her. I tapped my ear twice, gaining her attention.

"Huh?" she asked bemusedly.

"Jeez Leah, it's not like it's fucking rocket science or something," I huffed. "Do you think _Edward_ can hear us?" I tried again. I needed to know if the vampire was in hearing range, if not, we could discus a plan.

"Edwar- What the fuck does he have to do with anyt-" she started before stopping abruptly. "Oh, I get it. Edward. Huh, pretty clever, Swan. I'm not sure actually. I don't think so, but it's best not to just blurt shit out when Edward is near. Dude's got wicked hearing, wouldn't wanna let him over-hear things that'll give him the advantage. Why?"

I smiled mischievously. "Just because. You know, Edward's dad once told me I attracted people like him. Something to do with his favorite drink, that it smells real nice on me," I hoped Leah would understand what I was trying to say but honestly, I wasn't even sure where I was going with this myself.

"Huh? Wait, what? Why the hell didn't you say something before?" Leah asked with irritation.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "Didn't seem important."

"Didn't seem imp- Bell, you and me are gonna have a little chit-chat about this real soon," she huffed angrily. "Now tell me where you were going with this shit? Wait, you were going somewhere right? Because I swear to g-"

"Yeah, yeah," I interrupted. "Just listen okay. I was wondering if you wanted to go fishing?"

Leah gaped in shock at that question. "Woman, are you out of your leech-loving mind?"

"No, seriously, hear me out-"

"I'll knock you out, is more like it," Leah muttered. "There is seriously something wrong with you, you know that? Why the fuck didn't you tell me about your happy juice attracting those fuckers like flies?"

I cringed at her harsh tone of voice. She was right, I should have told her about this a long time ago. "Uh..I don't know. I think...I didn't want you to say no. I wanted you to come with me and I was afraid you wouldn't have if you knew I wouldn't be safe," I stuttered.

"Damn right I wouldn't have! Bella you are an idiot! You are the worse kind of idiot. If I had known this ahead of time I could have been prepared for this shit," she glared at me. "Aaagghh, fucking moron!" she whisper yelled before taking a deep breath. "Okay this is how it's going to be. We _are_ going fishing, but instead of just you being bait, I'm going to be right there with you."

I sighed in relief. Leah wasn't going to make me leave, good. She startled me when she suddenly started taking her close off. "What the hell are you doing?"

"What?" she snapped back defensively. "I'm not destroying my clothes for this shit."

She started taking her shoes and socks off. "Ground rules; don't do anything stupid. If you see him getting the upper-hand, leave! Run to a populated area, take the next plane back to La Push and stay there until you die of old age," she pulled off her jeans leaving her standing in only her bra and panties. "Oh, and by the way," she grinned wickedly. "If I - you know - die, don't forget to name one of your children after me."

I could tell she was excited. Not fear exited...well that was there too, but I mean really excited. It was probably because she was going to fight a leech. Alone. Although the thought would scare any normal person, hell it scared even me, Leah was happy. This was all the proof I needed; Leah was fucked in the head. That was great, I was in good company then.

I cringed when I saw Leah pull off her bra without a single thought towards modesty. Hey it's not like I was a prude or anything. Sure, I didn't particularly like seeing Leah in all her naked glory, but that didn't mean I had issues with nudity. I had no problem undressing in front of Leah, it was just that Leah didn't mind undressing in front of anyone. That girl didn't have an ounce of shame in her body. I had seen her do the same thing surrounded by nine boys without hesitating. The vampire that was currently stalking us was also going to get a prime view of Leah's goodies, but it just didn't bother her..._at all_.

I was brought out of my thoughts when Leah stopped pulling off her panties and froze. The vampire was close by. She gave me a look that said both everything and nothing at the same time before smiling softly. She reached for me, pulled my face close to hers and kissed my cheek. "Love you, Bee," she whispered softly.

I opened my mouth to return the sentiment but jumped in fright when the vampire decided that was the right time to walk into the alley. Even in the dark I could clearly see him for what he was. Their kind was easily to recognize that way. I didn't need to see his eyes to know he was a human drinker, the malice that emanated from his presence told me everything I wanted to know about him and more. His eyes widened when he saw Leah's naked form, her face still close to mine.

"Well, well, well. It seems like you two are very naughty girls," he smirked. The disgusting creep probably thought me and Leah were doing the nasty. _Pervy fucking vampire._

"What do you want?" Leah asked in a fake scared voice. Wow, Leah was actually pretty good at playing the weak human victim. She actually kinda sounded like me.

The vampire looked at her with his cold dead eyes, his cold dead red eyes. It was the first time I had encountered a red-eyed vampire since I last saw Victoria. The sight alone made my skin crawl. "Her," he said while pointing at me._ "_She smells absolutely delicious, I just couldn't let her go without a taste."

Jesus fucking Christ! I really was a danger magnet. My stupid scent was basically inviting them over for a meal now._ Great. That's just great._

"Taste? What do you mean taste?" Leah asked still acting._ Damn that girl is good. She should get an Academy award or something._

The creepy vampire sniffed the air. "Your girlfriend smells positively divine. You on the other hand, not so much. But don't worry, there is no reason for you to feel left out. I can eat without breathing in your repulsive scent."

_Damn, the fucker is going down._ Leah hated it when vampires commented on her scent. It was one of the many things that pissed her off beyond reason.

He stalked towards us ready for the attack but before he could so much as look at me, Leah phased completely out of the blue. She not only startled the hell out of pervy vamp, she startled me too.

Not giving him any time to recover from the fact that his 'weak human prey' had just sprouted fur, claws, and very sharp teeth, Leah jumped on the vampire and removed his arm from his body accompanied by a metallic screeching sound before he could act. She growled at him and jumped on him again. I cringed when I realized the screeching sound I heard earlier was caused by Leah tearing off his limbs. I couldn't help but wince when she cut off his head with one slice of her teeth._ That's gotta hurt._ As I watched her tear the vampire into unrecognizable parts I realized it was one of the most beautiful, but at the same time, terrible thing I had ever seen.

I sighed with relief when Leah walked over to me, but it quickly turned into concern when she whined softly. I petted her softly offering comfort. "What's wrong, Lee?" I asked anxiously._ Were there more vampires on the way? Were we ever going to find a way out of all this supernatural crap?_

Leah whined again, took a couple of steps away from me, and phased back to her human form.

She quickly put her clothes back on whilst muttering under her breath, too softly for me to hear. "Leah? What's going on?"

She looked at me grimacing slightly "Nothing. It's just that fucking Black!."

"What? What the hell did that asshole do?" I asked curiously, but still pissed as hell by the mere mention of his name.

"When I phased he was there, in my head, asking me things."

I was watching Leah's face trying to figure out why Jake asking Leah questions would piss her off. Suddenly I understood exactly what was going on. "Why that MOTHERFUCKER!" I yelled while Leah quickly grabbed her zippo from her pocket, and started to torch the vampire. "What exactly was he asking Leah?" I ground out not bothering to disguise my anger. It wasn't directed towards her anyway, I knew she understood that.

Leah sighed tiredly. "He was asking questions about your personal life, if, and who you are dating. When we were planning on coming back home, things like that."

She snorted with disgust. "He even had the balls to ask me to put in a good word for him. The fucker wanted to know if you have had sex with anyone else since you left Forks, and if I could help him make you forgive him."

"WHAT?" Rage like I never felt before washed over me. "How dare he? That son of a bitch! Thinking me and my life is his business, and trying to enlist you to make me forgive him! I will never forgive that bastard for what he did to me. He's lucky I reacted as mildly as I did," I was so angry, I would have killed him if I could.

I jumped when Leah put her arm around my shoulders. "Forget about that asshole, Bee. Seriously, don't let him spoil your mood just because he's a dumb fuck that thinks he can win you back."

My mood brightened instantly. Leah was right, I was done with Jacob Black and his shit. I was going to focus on better things like Highlanders wearing kilts. I grinned at Leah who smiled proudly in response.

"Atta girl. Now, about that trip you were talking about earlier, where do you want to go first?"

"You mean our 'road-trip' around America?" I turned to Leah with a questioning grin. "Texas. I wanna go to Texas," I continued when Leah nodded her head in assent.

She frowned in surprise. "Texas? Really? Why?"

My grin turned into a bright blinding smile before I said the one word that would make Leah agree with me. "Cowboys, Leah. Cowboys."

Leah's puzzled frown cleared instantly and her face brightened. "Oooh, I've always wanted to do the 'save a horse ride a cowboy' thing," she said gleefully.

I grinned while putting my arm around Leah's shoulder. "Besides," I continued. "Have you ever heard a man talk with a Texan drawl? There's seriously nothing hotter in the world then a man with an accent," I fanned myself with my hand feeling the heat rise in my body. I always was a sucker for an accent.

"Oh I can think of one thing," Leah said, her eyes glazed over. How about a man with an accent, wearing a uniform? Oh yeah, that's it for me. I like me a military man," she moaned. I couldn't agree more.

"So Texas it is then!" I said happy.

"Fine! But if it turns out to be vamp central, I'm totally biting your ass."

I grinned wickedly. "Hell yeah! We're gonna have so much fun - I just know it. I don't know why but I have a feeling about this, a good feeling. Texas is going to be wonderful and we are gonna be fine, better than fine. No vamps, I'm sure of it."

Leah snorted "Okay, oh powerful wise oracle, if you say so," she said not believing a word coming out of my mouth.

"You'll see Lee," I smiled. "I'll bet you fifty bucks we wont even see a vampire let alone run into trouble with one."

Leah chuckled softly. "You're on. And just so you know, you are so gonna lose."

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**A/N:**_ Thanks for your patience. If you see any mistakes please let me know. I'm looking for a beta if anyone's interested. Thank you for all your reviews, they really mean a lot to me. Let me know what you think, please? I could really use the feedback. How are you liking Leah? Do you like my Bella and the way she is now? Let me know? Next chapter will have a lot of drooling from the girls. Peter will also make an appearance and possibly Jasper, though I'm not sure about him yet. Hope you like it._

_-X- Hanane_


	6. Tap Dancing On The Highwire

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight in any way, shape, or form.**

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_A/N: I have re-written this story, I recommend you start re-reading the first chapter. Story re-written since 24-11-2011._

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_Chapter Five - Tap Dancing On The Highwire_

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**Bella**

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_Twenty-five months after leaving Forks..._

After leaving France and traveling around Europe for another year, we finally arrived in Texas. I could practically feel Leah's excitement and anticipation roll off of her in waves. Seeing Leah jump around all giddy with anticipation was freaking me the fuck out. She didn't have any business getting all excited about setting foot in cowboy central, it was messing with my perception of the world. Leah was a moody bitch that was beyond jaded she shouldn't have been so happy about shit like that. Hell, she could have given Alice a run for her money with the way she was bouncing around like Tigger on crack.

"Damn, Leah. Down girl! Look, I know we're entering the land of hot-as-fuck cowboys but that doesn't mean you should be acting like Seth on a sugar rush."

I grimaced at the thought. Seth on a sugar rush equals badness. Sam had to Alpha-order our little brother to forgo sugar for the rest of his existence after what happened last time he got his hands on Brady's secret candy stash. Seth under influence of sugar was not pretty, seriously. Last time it happened things like, a naked Quil tied to a broken chair running around La Push wearing make up that seemed to be applied by, either a three-year old, or a very, very drunk person, screaming for revenge yelling things like 'blood will be spilled, Clearwater, vengeance is mine, sayeth Taha Aki'.

Yeah... let's just say we won't forget a thing like that...ever. Especially not because Embry and Jared were running after Quil taping the whole thing. I never asked what happened because honestly, I didn't want to know. It were times like these that made me happy I didn't have to share a mind with the pack.

"What?" Leah yelled defensively bringing me out of my thoughts. " How could I not be excited? Cowboys, Bee, cowboys!" she exclaimed as if that explained everything, which it kinda did.

I couldn't help but laugh at her antics. Even though I was bitching at Leah to stop freaking me the hell out with being so damn happy I was no better than she was. I was so excited I actually had to force myself not to go out, buy a cowboy hat, and yell 'giddy up', every fucking chance I got.

After leaving the airport we made a beeline for the first motel we could find. Leah managed to convince me to forgo sleep for the sake of going out and getting drunk. It wasn't as if I objected or anything. On the contrary, I was all for going out and having the time of my life. Traveling with Leah taught me many things, one of them was the freedom that going out and getting drunk with a werewolf gave me. I found out early on that Edward Cullen had done more to me then abandoning me and ripping out my heart. He made me afraid. It still amazed me that I actually found the courage to leave Forks after what he did to me.

The first couple of months of traveling with Leah, I saw vampires, rapists and murderers everywhere I looked. Where-ever I went whatever I did, I never completely let my guard down, always thinking the worst was going to happen because Edward told me it would. He taught me the world was a very scary place and convinced me of the depravity of men, and he had to be right of course, because he was Edward Cullen and he was a mind-reader.

Leah helped me cure myself of that stupid notion as soon as she realized I had it. I quickly came to realize that even-though Edward was right, the world could be a dangerous place, I could handle it. I could live in the world without him sheltering me from everything. I could handle the human dangers by myself and I had Leah to protect me from the supernatural ones. I wasn't going to break because Edward wasn't there to catch me if I fell. The day I had that epiphany was one of the best days of my life. It completely changed the way I saw the world and my place in it. I'd always considered myself prey. Because of my alluring scent I knew there would always be vampires after me the moment they caught a whiff of my smell. It scared me beyond belief, in fact , it scared me so much I had troubles leaving the house while I was on my period. But now I simply didn't care anymore. I realized that I couldn't keep my life on hold because I was too afraid to leave the house without Edward and the rest of the Cullens protecting me. Understanding that changed me.

I didn't mind going outside anymore, in fact, I loved it. The only problem I had now was trying to stop Leah from 'dressing me up like a girl', that's how she puts it anyway. In my opinion that remark was totally uncalled for. I wasn't the same Bella who ran away when the word 'shopping' was mentioned. Don't get me wrong I still hated it, but you don't get to live in France without at least picking up a couple of things about fashion.

So there I was wearing a black strapless dress that ended mid-thigh. The fabric hugged my breasts and flowed freely around the rest of my body. There was a red ribbon tied under my breasts, the same red colour of the lipstick and cowboy boots I was wearing. I curled my hair and let it flow freely around my body. I looked pretty, and I liked feeling that way.

Leah wore a scoop neck top that hugged her breasts, and a Jeans skirt that was so short I could check to see she wasn't wearing any panties if I was inclined to find out. Don't ask about the no panties, it's a werewolf thing. On her feet she wore black ballerina flats. Simplicity and easy to get out of clothes was the rule in all Leah's outfits. Although this one seemed to possess a certain amount of slut factor.

Leah wanted to go to a bar and make a good attempt at getting drunk on order to forget that today happened to be the anniversary of the day Leah and Sam would have been married. To be honest, I think she just wanted to go out so we could spot a vampire. As I'd found out in Scotland, that woman would go to extraordinary lengths to win a simple bet.

_Five months ago, Gairloch Scotland..._

_I watched my surroundings with fascination holding one hand to my throat whilst fanning myself with the other. I was feeling warm and flushed and the weather had nothing to do with it. Leah stood next to me enraptured with the sight before us. She wasn't wearing a coat, like most of the people around us were. As a werewolf she was always running a high temperature, but I could see that like me she was also affected by what she saw._

_"My god, I think I just I just had a small orgasm," she moaned breathlessly. The old woman standing next to Leah turned to her in shock before chuckling amusedly, murmuring something about 'oh, to be young again'._

_"Did you see the muscles on that guy? And those legs, dear god, those legs," Leah fanned herself, completely out of breath. Usually I would have been the first to make fun of her but I was too busy drooling over my own wet dream come to life._

_"You know, I could do that," Leah said thoughtfully watching the Scottish man wearing a kilt pick up a freaking tree._

_I murmured something in agreement but found myself too occupied hoping the wind would answer the century old question of 'what does a Highlander wear under his kilt?'._

_"Oh my," I sighed when the yummy Highlander threw his tree as far as he was able. I knew a couple of vampires and werewolves who could do the same without effort, but there was something about watching a Highlander without super powers doing it that gave me that good low-down tickle._

_"Oh yeah, baby, come to mama," Leah groaned. "Damn Bella, why do I feel the need to climb him like a tree and fuck him into oblivion?"_

_"No idea, Lee, but when you find out, let me know," answered absent-mindedly._

_Leah turned to me with a grin. "Do you think he'll let me lick his abs?" she asked looking rather flushed. I chuckled in response before turning my attention back to the games._

_"Jesus I'm having strange fantasies about leeches," Leah sighed._

_I choked when her words reached through the haze of lust I managed to lose myself in. __Excuse me?" I almost screeched in surprise. "You perving on leeches now?" I asked incredulously._

_"Huh?" Leah asked slightly bemused. "No!" she hurriedly yelled. "Hell no! I'm just..."_

_"Having sexual fantasies about vampires? It's okay Lee, I've been there, done that."_

_Leah shook her head emphatically. "Na-ah, not me, no way! I was just having a little fantasie-"_

_"About Leeches," I interrupted gleefully wiggling my eyebrows._

_"Yes. No! Kind of."_

_"Care to elaborate?" I grinned wickedly. This was fun. I seldom had the opportunity to watch Leah get all flustered about something. By sharing her mind and most intimate thoughts and fantasies with nine different men one of them being Seth, her brother, Leah had a 'seen it all, done it all' mentality. She had no qualms about walking around naked, sex, or...well, anything really. Just imaging sharing my mind with nine guys, most of them adolescents, made me nauseous. Especially when I thought about Quil and all the fucked up fantasies that pervert must have shared with her. I shuddered in horror at the very thought._

_"I don't know, I was just thinking how I wished there was a leech nearby that wanted to snack on the hottie," Leah admitted reluctantly._

_"What?" I gasped in shock. "You want the eye candy to die?"_

_"Nah," Leah replied dreamily staring of into the distance. "I would be there to save him from the leech, of course. And in return, he'd fuck my brains out," her eyes were far away and glazed over._

_I snorted. "Oh yeah, you're a regular superhero, Lee."_

_"What? there's a reason it's called a fantasy, sweetheart. And don't go pretending you know nothing about those, 'cause can hear you go at it with Paul in your sleep. 'Oh, Paul, fuck me please; make me yours'," she mocked._

_I shrugged it off easily. "So what? Paul is hot, it's not a secret," I was feeling embarrassed but I was happy I had my tell-tale blush under control. If let Leah see it bothered me, she would never shut up about it. I wasn't about to give her ammo._

_She grinned evilly. "You do know that I think about it every-time I phase right?"_

_I froze in shock. "What? No! What?"_

_She wiggled her eyebrows smugly. "Oh yeah. Every. Fucking. Time."_

_I groaned cradling my head in my hands. "God, please kill me now," I begged hoping the earth would swallow me whole. This was beyond embarrassing. Everyone knew I was dreaming about having sex with Paul. Hell Paul knew I was dreaming of fucking him. Who knows what the fuck I say in my sleep. I groaned again when the answer came to me. Apparently Paul knew._

_"I'm gonna fuck him," Leah said matter-of-factly ripping me from my embarrassment._

_"Who, Paul?" I choked horrified._

_Leah tore her gaze away from the Highlander to give me a disgusted glance. "Ew. Oh, and thank you very much for putting that disgusting though in my head," she spat. "I'm talking about Mr tall, hot, and fuckable, over there, genius," she pointed at the Highlander making me sigh in relief._

_"Oh. Oh! Really?"_

_"Hell yeah, really! I _have _to know how those abs feel," she muttered distractedly._

_"Really?" I asked again after studying the man more thoroughly. It wasn't as if he wasn't attractive, god no, he was seriously panty dropping, drool-worthy. But, when I looked at him I just didn't have this need to fuck him like Leah seemed to have. It was one of the reasons I was still a virgin even after a year and a half traveling around Europe meeting some of the most gorgeous men alive. Spending time around vampires and Werewolves seemed to have its effect on me and spoiled me for normal men. They just didn't interest me in that way, which was a very bad thing since I had no intention of getting involved with a vampire and the only werewolves I knew imprinted on someone else or at least not on me._

_Leah shot me another fleeting glance telling me I was an idiot without using any words and went back to drooling. The Highlander made way for his opponent and we all clapped and cheered when his opponents didn't throw his tree as far as the Highlander had. I turned my head when I heard someone clap and cheer louder than anyone else in the audience and raised my eyebrows when it turned out to be a beautiful red-headed woman._

_I grinned and turned to Leah. "Looks like you've got a bit of competition, Lee," I joked before pointing the woman out to Leah._

_Leah scowled before turning up he nose in disgust. "As if," she sneered._

_I chuckled softly at the opportunity this presented me; messing with Leah was always so much fun. "I'll bet you a hundred bucks that chick's gonna be the one licking his abs tonight," I taunted._

_"What? You think I'm gonna let her have the man I want? You're insane!" she set her jaw determinedly and scowled when she saw the petty red-head make her way through the crowed towards the Highlander._

_"I'm gonna go get my man, and teach you I always win a bet," Leah chuckled darkly making her way towards her intended target._

_"This will be entertaining," I said softly, smiling gleefully. My eyes stayed on the red-head following her progress with bated breath._

_"What's that, love," the old woman next to me asked me curiously._

_"Huh?" I asked my eyes still glued on the fine-looking man that caught Leah's interest. The lady turned to follow my gaze and chuckled softly._

_"Oh, now don't you be worrying about that, love. That's just his sister, no competition for a pretty lass such as yourself."_

_My thought screeched to a halt. What? Sister? WHAT?_

_"Who are you talking about? Whose sister?" I asked urgently._

_"Well Conner of course, lass. That fine looking young lad just won. The one you and your friend have been looking at. I'm just telling you not to worry too much, the lass with the red hair the one you've been watching is just his sister. As a matter of fact, I could introduce you to Conner if you'd like."_

_I couldn't be hearing this right, I needed to make sure. "You mean she's his sister? His honest to god, same mother, same father, sister?"_

_She was going to say no, I was sure of that because I couldn't be this lucky._

_"Aye."_

_She said yes. I couldn't help it, I laughed. Hard._

_I quickly composed myself because I knew I could laugh my ass off all I wanted later. I wouldn't get the opportunity to witness what I was about to in the near future. I couldn't risk missing it._

_My eyes drifted around the crowd searching for Leah._

_"Well, lass? Do you want me to introduce you to Conner?" the lady asked distracting me from my search. "It would only be a small thing."_

_"No thanks," I replied trying to keep the annoyance out of my voice._

_"Oh," she said frostily. "I see. I must have misjudged the situation then. Well good day," she turned and walked away which told me I was crap at hiding my feelings. I gave her no further thought and quickly returned to scanning the crowd for Leah._

_When I found Leah the first thought that entered my mind was 'Ah-oh' the second was strangely the voice of a narrator on national geographic saying 'As the wolf slowly stalks its prey...' It was exactly what Leah was doing at he very moment, stalking her prey; the red-head._

_"Oh fuck! Leah's gone insane," I sighed, not knowing whether to laugh my ass off or bang my head against a wall for encouraging her insanity._

_"Leah," I yelled knowing she would hear me and hoping she wouldn't ignore me._

_"Leah!"_

Nope, no such luck._ She was pretending she didn't hear me call her name. _Oh well, I tried. Better sit back and watch Leah embarrass herself then. I Hope no one gets hurt.

_I watched with bated breath as Leah found her target and stalked over to her in a way that reminded me way too much of her wolf form. Leah had marked the red-head as her prey._

_"Leah!" I yelled trying again. This time, to my everlasting surprise, she did turn around. I immediately started signing the 'abort mission' signal slicing my hand across my throat hoping she'd get the idea. I groaned when Leah's lips curled in a wicked smirk that told me she understood my signal but took it as me not wanting to lose the bet instead of me wanting to save her from embarrassment and possibly a jail-sentence._

_"Fan-fucking-tastic," I muttered in annoyance._

_Leah turned back to her 'prey' and started walking next to her. The next thing I saw was a screaming, flying red-head. I cringed when she landed hitting her head against a bench. Leah walked over to see if she was alright and turned to me smiling smugly when she saw the girl was clutching her head in pain, but seemed fine._

_I could practically hear Leah's satisfied voice in my head saying 'serves her right for going after the man I wanted.'_

_"Caitlin?" a male voice called out worriedly. Leah turned to look and straightened herself as she saw the Highlander approaching in a hurry, yelling the red-head's name, and quickly moved to intercept._

_"This I have to hear," I snickered, as I quickly moved towards Leah and the usual drama that surrounded her. Things would've been so boring without Leah around, I mused silently. My thoughts drifted back to all the dangers Leah had rescued me from over the last year. I would probably be dead too. All in all inviting Leah to come along was definitely one of my finer moments._

_"-know what you're talking about," Leah told the Highlander defensively, just as I reached them._

_"I think you do," he snapped back aggressively. "What is wrong with you, woman? I saw you push her!"_

_"No I didn't," Leah snapped back crossing her arms._

_Oh, this was going to be fun._

_"Yes you did. I saw you!"_

_"So? She's a skank anyway. Why would you wanna have her when you can have me," Leah purred seductively, changing her tactics when she saw denial wasn't getting her anywhere. "I bet she's not even a natural red-head," she scoffed._

_The Highlander's face changed from anger into disgust at her words. "What's wrong with you?" he repeated incredulously. "That is my sister you're talking about!"_

_"Sister?" Leah questioned checks tinged with shame._

_"Yes, sister!" he snapped back, clearly angered on his sister's behalf._

_I covered my mouth with my hand to stop from snickering or outright laughing at Leah's bad luck._

_"Huh," Leah deadpanned before turning to me with a wide grin. "I still won the bet. She's not going to lick his abs tonight."_

I snorted at the memory, but couldn't help the worry that came over me. Having experience with Leah and her usual madness, I shuddered to think of what she would do to make sure to win this bet. I could only hope I wouldn't end up in jail.

I reluctantly followed Leah down a street filled with bars. My reluctance stemmed from the fact that I had a funny feeling Leah was up to something. Somehow I knew she was going to get me in trouble, one way or another.

I watched as she dismissed some bars, and carefully studied others. Apparently it took skill to choose the right one. I wouldn't know. I would have just entered the first bar I saw, but not Leah. She was looking for something and I was pretty sure whatever it was, it had something to do with that voice in my head telling me I shouldn't have gotten out of bed today.

"I found it!" Leah yelled excitedly. My head snapped back towards Leah to see what kind of hell-hole she was trying to drag me into. When I saw the sign, I knew I was right, there was definitely cause to worry.

"No fucking way," I breathed, backing away slowly. "I'm not going in there, you're out of your fucking mind!"

Leah narrowed her eyes threateningly causing me to halt my retreat. "Oh come on, leech lover. Don't tell me the mighty Isabella Swan, the girl who hangs with werewolves and vampires, is afraid of a bit of fun?" she taunted mockingly.

"FUN? In what stretch of the imagination would this ever be considered fun?" I sneered. I was not going in there and that was that. "No, Lee. No fucking way!"

Leah looked at me with a small pout, giving me puppy-dog eyes. Fuck! That bitch knew I was weak when it came to those eyes. "Please, Bells? For me? I could really use some fun right about now. I really want to keep my mind off of things," she pleaded. Oh, so not fair. I understood tonight was a rough night for her but that didn't mean I was going to let er torture me into insanity.

I glanced back at her and quickly averted my eyes when I saw her pout become more pronounced. I groaned. There wasn't any chance that I was going to win this battle, it was best if I just gave in. I tried one last time to change her mind but I already knew it was going to be pointless. "Leah, please, anything but this?"

Leah's pout turned into a triumphant grin, already assured of her victory. "I gotta tell you, Bee, you're sounding more and more like that whiny bitch you used to be. You need to snap out of it. Because I will knock your ass out of it if I have to! We made a deal you're going to do things that scare you. So get to it. I wanna see the Bella who kissed Paul like there was no tomorrow. I wanna see the Bella I have seen in this last year or so."

She was right. The old me would never have done this, but I would. I straightened my back and lifted my chin up in determination. "Right! Let's get to it then," I snapped sharply. I knew this was going to be hell, but if I was going to hell, I sure as fuck was taking Leah with me. I turned to glance at her, my mouth curled up in a smirk. "But just so you know, I'm picking out my own fucking songs!"

I walked into the Karaoke bar followed by a smug feeling Leah determent I was going to make her pay for the torture I was about to endure. The second I walked inside my ears were assaulted by someone raping Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You'. How did I know it was the Whitney Houston version, you ask. My first clue was when I saw the chick attempting to make my eardrum's bleed by doing that chin quiver thingy, Whitney Houston always does.

"Oh for the love of God!" Leah spat in disgust. I grinned widely, knowing that if it was this bad for me to endure that tone-deaf lunatic's voice, it was much worse for Leah with her enhanced hearing. Looks like I'm not the only one suffering tonight.

**_I hope life treats you kind And I hope you have all you've dreamed of. _**

**_And I wish to you, joy and happiness. But above all this, I wish you love._**

**_And I will always love you. I will always love you. _**

**_I will always love you. I will always love you. _**

**_I will always love you. I, I will always love you._**

This is bad. "Fuck! If she keeps this up I'm going to need medical attention!" I yelled at Leah, rubbing my ears. This chick better stop singing soon or I won't be held responsible for my actions.

**_You, darling, I love you. Ooh, I'll always, I'll always love you._**

"Well thank God that's over," Leah sighed, obviously relieved.

Oh if she thought this was bad, she had another thing coming. I looked at Leah smirking evilly. "If you think that's bad...think again, Lee. Are sure you want me to do this?" I was hoping that by threatening her with my voice Leah would let me off the hook, but I knew it was a long shot.

"Nice try Swan, but I heard you sing before remember...like when you shower."

I groaned in annoyance. "Fuck, Lee! You're really making me do this?"

She grinned cheerfully. "Of course I am."

I sighed, knowing I lost. "Fine but remember what I said; I'm picking the song!"

"Fine, fine, whatever you say."

I smirked evilly. "And we're singing together."

Leah froze. "What? I don't remember agreeing to that."

I shrugged casually, smirk still plastered on my face. "I don't remember agreeing with your little plan either but lo and behold here I am," I drawled, gesturing at my surroundings. This was pretty much a win-win situation for me. She could force me to sing, damning herself in the process, or she could tell me no and I'd be off the hook.

Leah gritted her teeth angrily. "Fine, we'll sing together. I was thinking along the line of 'My Endless Love' or-"

I interrupted her before she could come up with worse choices...if that was even possible. "Nope. We are going to sing a song together but it's not going to be a duet," I gave her an evil look. "Are you still very sure you're going to make me to do this?" I tried again.

"Oh get over it Swan," she snapped. "You're not getting out of this one, I don't care what you try to pull. Fucking coward!"

"Yeah whatever. Just get me something to drink, okay? 'Cause I'm pretty sure I need at least three shots of whiskey before I can pull this shit off," I sighed in defeat. Somehow, I was going to make Leah pay for this. I didn't know when, or even where for that matter. I only knew that one day when she would be least expecting it...BAM...payback.

Leah smiled brightly. "Alright, let's head for the bar and get this party started."

I reluctantly followed Leah towards the bar casting back one last longing glance at the entrance, wishing I could just run, far, far away and forget about this whole disaster in the making. I seated myself on one of the empty bar-stools, and watched as Leah hit the bar with her fist three times yelling, "Yo, barkeep! Get my girl a drink, she needs to work on removing her inhibitions."

I groaned. Why did I think taking off with Leah to explore the big bad world would be a good idea? This was all Edward Cullens fault. I wasn't exactly sure how yet, but I was pretty sure I could come up with a reason to blame him for this.

I chuckled wryly. "Well at least our night can't get any worse then this," I muttered softly before quickly downing my drink. I frowned when I realized what I just said. _Fuck, I hope I didn't just jinx it!_

* * *

_**A/N**: Let me now what you think? Are you guys still interested in this story?_

_Thanks for all the reviews, they mean a lot._

_If you see any mistakes, please let me know. _

_Sincerely, __Hanane_


	7. Just Like the Moon Chasing the Sun

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight._**

* * *

Chapter Six - Just Like the Moon Chasing the Sun

**Jasper**

"Are you sure you're not gonna tell me what the fuck's going on? I asked trying to keep my temper in check.

I was trying real hard, honest, but the savage glee radiating from Peter told me he was taking way too much enjoyment out of this, making it very hard not to kill his ass, or maybe just maim him a little.

"Nope. You'll know when you're meant to know, when you can understand the complexit-"

"You just love fucking with me, don'tcha?" I interrupted, knowing that letting him talk would only make things worse.

"Oh yeah, definitely one of my favorite things to do."

I barely managed to hold back the grin at his casual reply. It was never a good thing to show Peter you find him amusing. It only encourages him.

"We really need to find your ass a hobby, Pete. "

I couldn't believe how much better I felt just by talking to Peter. Deciding to visit Peter in the hopes of getting out of my depressed state was clearly a good idea.

"Nah, don't worry about it, Major. My ass will be too busy to fuck with you, soon enough. Yours too, by the way."

I frowned. "Well that would've sounded comforting if I wasn't experiencing everything you're feeling right now. You're going to get us in trouble again, aren't you?" I asked half worried half amused.

Peter's plans were usually insane, terrifying, gravity defying, against the law, to name a couple of things, but they were also always amusing.

"Hell yeah, Major. The best kind."

"Alright," I conceded. "But I don't get why you're not telling me anything, though,"_ or better yet, why I'm not beating it out of you?_

"You need this, Major. You need to live your life without knowing what's going to happen every second of every day. That bitch really did a number on you, dictating and controlling everything in your life. You need to remember how life used to be without the clairvoyant she-hobbit taking your hands as if you were a fucking pre-schooler."

"But you know what's going to happen too, right? So it would be as if she were here."

Peter turned to me with a part incredulous part insulted expression on his face. "Are you calling me a fucking she-hobbit? 'Cause I'm telling you right now, my gift ain't nothing like hers."

"No, fuck-face, I'm calling you a know-it-all! What's the use of not telling me what's going to happen if you're gonna be acting like Alice anyway? There's no way I'd be going out and following your ass where ever the fuck you plan on taking us if it wasn't for you insisting because you know something is gonna happen."

I ran my hands through my hair and immediately cringed when I realized I was still emulating stupid human gestures. Who would've known that would be the hardest habit to break from my days of playing human.

"I'm just trying to make sure I didn't just get rid of that controlling bitch only to have you tell me to go there or not go there, because I might drain a couple of humans, instead."

Peter scoffed. "Did you forget who you're talking to?" he asked raising one eyebrow questioningly. "Why exactly should I give a shit about you offing a couple of humans? It's what they're fucking there for, Major. Food."

I frowned. "Shit. Fuck. That's not what I mean."

"Well, what the hell do you mean? It's getting real hard not to get offended, Major. It's not everyday people compare me to Sméagol," Peter smirked.

"Oh, fuck you asshole! You know exactly what I mean."

"I know," he said, uncharacteristically serious for once. "I'm not going to do what she did to you, Jasper. Shit, the reason you were so bad at controlling your thirst around humans was because you were never allowed to practice. She would see a situation potentially go out of control and she'd make sure you'd be able to avoid temptation by never putting you in that situation. She was basically your condom, trying to protect you from unpleasant things," he frowned thoughtfully, "Pleasant things too if you think about it. The humans do always go on about how much better it feels without a rubber.

He grinned when he saw my incredulous expression before continuing wearing an infuriating smirk. "I hate to break it to you, dude, but we're vampires, we don't need a fucking condom. You let her be your safety net for far too long, letting her control your ass left and right, just 'cause it was easier for you."

I growled angrily, but not because he was wrong. I was more angry at myself for letting everything get as far as it did than I was at Peter for pointing out the truth.

"The thing is, your gift is never going away, Jasper. When you're 'round others of our kind you're going to feel their blood lust. There is no way 'round this. You either learn how to control it, or you let your ass get owned by a tiny midget bitch. It's your choice, Brother."

I froze. I hadn't really thought of that. I always though Alice was keeping me from killing people, but it was like she always said, her visions are subjective. They depend on what a person decides. Decisions can be made in a second, faster if you're a vampire, how could she have known I would really go through with it in the end?

"But if I hadn't let her..._help me _I would've slaughtered so many people. _Innocent people."_

Peter grinned widely, showing off his gleaming white teeth. "Innocent people?" he scoffed. "Ain't no such thing. Besides, how is a man going to learn if not from his mistakes?"

What if the only way to learn was to stop myself? Maybe if I had learned how to control my powers by myself, I wouldn't have killed as many people as Alice's visions showed I would. It would probably be a good thing to try and live my life without being depended on someone. Peter's advice was always sound, at least when he was talking about the knowledge his gift gave him he was, otherwise I wouldn't even recommend a donkey listen to his crazy ass.

"I'm not telling you shit about your future," he continued, cheery grin still in place. "Unless it's important enough to let you know, and I'm telling you right now, I don't consider a couple of dead humans a tragedy."

The casual way he spoke about killing humans showed the huge difference between him and the Cullens. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"Then why are we on our way to where ever the hell it is we're going now, if you're not meddling with my future?" I asked, focusing on the problem at hand. I hated not knowing what was going to happen. Decades with Alice whispering every secret, surprise, and possible future in my ear clearly fucked me up. I was going to have to re-learn how the rest of the world lived.

Peter laughed. "I never said I wouldn't meddle, I just told you I wasn't going to say anything about it to you when I was. Besides, this shit has to do with the both of us, and you really need to get laid."

Oh I did not like the sound of this...at all. "Peter, I swear to God, if you're taking me to see a whore I'll fuck-"

"No," Peter snickered. "But I thought about it."

"Unless you wanna be dickless for the foreseeable future, I recommend you don't think about it anymore," I grumbled.

Peter winced. "No joking about ripping off dicks! Seriously, I get nightmares."

I snorted. "We don't sleep, Dickhead."

"Whatever. Just don't talk about shit like that. Anyway, are you...well I'm not gonna say satisfied 'cause I don't care what the fuck you say, I refuse to believe you can get any satisfaction from munching on squirrels, but have you eaten enough not to want to massacre the entire population of Texas?"

"Huh?" I replied dumbfounded. Since when did Peter care about me killing few humans? Hell, he encouraged me every chance he had.

Peter shook his head slowly at my flabbergasted look and snorted. "Very eloquent, fucker. Listen up, I need to know if you drank enough of that disgusting shit you dare to call blood to not want to kill the first human you find?"

"I have. And let me tell you now, before you start that shit again. I'm not changing my diet. I know you think that just because I don't live with the Cullens anymore, I should stop hunting animals. But it's not going to happen. I do not give you shit about your food of choice, so don't give me crap about mine."

Peter grinned. "Yeah, don't really care about that right now. I just needed to make sure I could take you out in public without you embarrassing me by munching on a couple of necks. You know all the other vampires tease me 'bout having a big brother with the self-control of a newborn," he joked.

I growled. " I think I'm showing exactly how much control I have by not ripping your arm off and shoving it up your ass."

Peter winced. "Yeah that would probably hurt."

"So we're going to a place filled with humans then? Why? What are we going to find there?"

Peter smirked giving me a look that clearly said he knew something I didn't. I couldn't help but groan. I hated those looks. It usually resulted in Alice getting pisses off, and me not getting laid for a long time.

I brightened considerably when I discovered another benefit of not being tied down to Alice anymore.

* * *

**Bella**

"So, are you ready for this?" Leah asked pulling me from my misery.

Was I ready to embarrass myself in front of a room full of people? Mmm let me think...hell no. Was I going to do it anyway? Yes. unfortunately.

"Not even close," I finally answered.

"Well get ready," Leah snapped impatiently. "I wanna go out and sing."

I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck tiredly. I couldn't believe I actually let her talk me into this. I was so going to make her pay.

"How do you suppose one gets ready for something like this? - I don't think you can, Lee," I quickly continued when she opened her mouth to offer me advice that would undoubtedly get me arrested before the night was over. I really wasn't looking forward to calling Charlie to beg for bail money.

"This," I started, gesturing to the podium and the poor bastard bellowing out a Rob Crosby song. "Is like anal sex. You're never really ready. You can prepare all you want, but at the end of the day, you're gonna feel it. The trouble is you almost never know if it'll be a good feeling, or a painful one."

Leah choked on her drink. "Say what now? she spluttered.

I laughed at her reaction. "What? It's the truth."

"How the hell would you know?" she asked incredulously. "Are you holding out on me?" she demanded, pushing her face close to mine as if to examine it for any signs of deceit. "Have you and Paul been kinking it up behind my back?"

"What? No!"

"Are you sure?" Leah questioned without breaking eye-contact. "If you aren't screwing Paul, then how do you know how anal sex feels?" her question was laced with suspicion.

I sniffed haughtily. "Hey! I know stuff."

"Sure..."

"What? I do!"

Leah made no effort to disguise her disbelief. Just when I was about to object and let her know how exactly I knew this, Leah stiffened. I immediately started paying attention to our surroundings without being obvious about it. Leah reacting to something close by could mean only one out of three things. One, she heard or smelled something out of the ordinary. Two, one of her pack brothers howled, signaling that there were leeches in the forest, which wasn't really an option on account of us being outside of howling distance. Or option three, there were vampires in the bar.

My money was on option number three. I knew there weren't any Leeches in the bar when we first entered so that meant they just walked through the door.

Leah turned to look at me wearing an evil grin. "You know, I really shouldn't be happy about this, but I did tell you you'd lose that bet."

"Seriously?" I demanded incredulously. I wouldn't put it past Leah to fake sensing a couple of vampires in order to win a few bucks.

"Yep," she chirped cheerily.

Vampires. In the first fucking bar we entered in Texas. It was not fair. Why couldn't that bitch, also known as fate, lose my fucking number?

"You know, this night just keeps getting better and better," her smile turned into a disgusted frown. "Now if I could only do something about that disgusting smell. I knew I shouldn't have let you talk me out of bringing that bottle of Febreze."

"Oh for crying out loud," I sighed exasperated at Leah's complains.

I studied Leah carefully, hating the fact that I had to rely on her to identify vampires. It wasn't anything against Leah but it was very irritating to not know what's going on and being unable to ask for further details. Well, not blatantly anyway.

"So how many?" I asked softly. I knew better than to ask too many questions. I learned that lesson when we were in Antwerp. I might have...just might have said the word vampire a little to loudly. Which caused the vampire in question to get curious and walk after us. I sure as hell wasn't repeating that stupid shit again.

"Just Jared and Paul."

_Two. Both male._

I loved my relationship with Leah. We understood each other perfectly.

"Great. That's just great," I muttered, more disgruntled about having to sing in front of a bunch of vampires than the fact that they were actually presently sitting in the same bar as me, possibly hunting for a meal.

"Ah, chill, Bee. It's no big. You and me are gonna get our song on, and then we're leaving. There's nothing to it."

"Right. you're right," I nodded decisively. I just needed to stick to the plan, then make sure to get the hell out while I was still in possession of my dignity and, more importantly, my life.

First thing was first, I was going to make Leah Clearwater pay. If she insisted on sending me to hell, I sure as fuck was taking her with me. And I knew exactly how I was going to accomplish just that. I was going to do everything I possibly could to make sure Leah was uncomfortable on that podium. She was going to wish she never fucked with Isabella Swan, I would make sure of that.

I asked the bartender for a pen and a piece of paper and covertly wrote down the song I wanted to perform. I wasn't going to let Leah know a second earlier then I had to. I quickly handed it to him before Leah wised up and tried to forcibly take it. He opened it with a smile, that turned into a grin, before turning around and walking away, off to reserve our slot, hopefully.

I grinned amusedly when Leah groaned at the start of a new song. With her enhanced hearing it had to be painful. I couldn't help but wonder how the vampires were faring. If Leah was any indication, it probably wasn't that well. I did question why anyone would willingly step into this shit hole, especially two people with enhanced healing? Leah, I could explain; insanity. The vampires though? Must have been something very special that made them cross this threshold.

"What the fuck is _this?" _a male voice with a very sexy drawl questioned, clearly appalled.

"I have no idea," a second voice answered.

"Well you better have some ideas. You're the fucker who dragged my ass into this hell hole."

My mouth quirked in an amused half-grin. They sounded just like me and Leah.

"Relax, Major," the second voice's softly drawled.

Major? Perhaps a military man? I discretely wiped away a bit of drool. _I sure hope he's wearing his uniform._

The first voice, now identified as the major scoffed loudly. "Relax my ass!" he argued. "The last time I stepped into one of these shit holes, some dude decided he wanted to be my boyfriend. It wouldn't have been so bad if the guy hadn't gone on stage singing 'I want to break free' by Queen. He was fucking serenading me, which didn't go over well with his fiance who was sitting at the table next to me. She came over and started hitting me with her purse. Her fucking purse, Peter!"

I just managed to hold back my laugh. Now this was someone who had a legitimate reason for hating places like this. Not that a person actually needed one.

"Stop laughing, you stupid fuck!"

"What? It's hilarious, how can you expect me not to laugh?" Peter choked out.

"Whatever. All I know is this chick better stop raping this song soon, or I won't be held responsible for my actions."

"What are you gonna do, kill her?" Peter asked, laughter echoing in his voice. My ears perked up at that. _Sounds like a plan. I wonder if he'll let me help?_

"No. But I might make her feel like she has to shit her pants."

Make her _feel_? How the hell would he do _that, _and where could I learn to do the same?

Peter snickered. "The almighty Major Jasper Whitlock, brought to his knees by a woman singing. Hmph, I never thought I'd see the day."

_Jasper. _I liked it.

"Please," the major now identified as Jasper sneered disgustedly. "By what stretch of the fucking imagination could this ever be called singing?"

I couldn't agree more with that statement.

"Ugh, as if the singing isn't bad enough, now it smells like wet dog in here," Jasper said disgustedly startling me.

_Wet dog. Werewolf. Leah_. Holy crap on a pogo stick. _vampires._

"I don't smell anything, maybe it's your armpit," Peter retorted.

_I'm listening in on a conversation between vampires? I'm getting in trouble without even doing anything now. This is great. _Just _great._

"Hey! Screw you, fucker," Jasper snapped back playfully. "No seriously, you don't smell anything?"

"I smell a lot of nasty things, not wet dog though."

Wait. Why could only one of the vampires smell Leah? Leah said there were two vampires, did they bring a human with them? I wanted to turn around and see for myself but knew I couldn't behave that recklessly. It would endanger both my life and Leah's.

I cringed when I noticed one of the bar employees signaling me that it was our turn. _Fuck shit motherfucking damn._ I nodded that I understood and took a deep breath. I was going to have to do this one way or another. I steeled my nerves and turned towards Leah.

"Lee, we're up," I said, giving her hair a little yank.

It was hard for me not to laugh when I found her lying with her head on our table, hands clamped over her ears trying to drown out what was supposed to be a Dolly Parton song, but sounded more like two cats getting their freak on.

Leah looked up. "I'm starting to think I made a huge mistake by coming in here," she whined.

I couldn't help the wide grin that formed on my face. "You wait 'till now to tell me this?" I snorted. "Come on, it's too late for us to back down now."

We walked over to the side of the podium, waiting for the sound of cats to drown out. Leah who looked like she was contemplating suicide only a second ago instantly perked up when the song finally stopped.

I found myself excited too, but for different reasons. I would finally be able to take a look at the vampires without seeming to obvious about it. I didn't want to draw anymore attention then Leah being a wolf would probably bring us. Fuck, I couldn't believe I lost that fucking bet.

I took a deep breath and decided to think on it later. Fucking with Leah was my first priority, figuring out the vampires could wait until later.

"Do you really need me to get on stage with you, I mean you can sing this alone right? What song did you pick anyway?"

Leah sounded nervous, I liked it.

I ignored her, grabbed hand, and dragged her reluctant ass with me on the podium. I didn't know what the hell her problem was anyway. First she practically forced me inside this shit-hole to sing a stupid song and now she was all but ready to leave my ass hanging, I think not.

Maybe she finally figured out I was up to something? _Ha, too late do do anything about it now, Bitch._

I grinned when the song started and turned to Leah with a wicked smirk. The widening of her eyes was enough to tell me she recognized the song, and it only widened my smirk. Payback, thou name is Bella.

_'Freak me baby, aawww yea'_

I licked my lips and slowly walked around Leah in a circle until I stood behind her, then I pushed her head slightly to the side and brushed her hair out of the way, like a lover would, and exposed her neck.

_'Freak me baby, aawww yea'_

_'Let me lick you up and down till you say stop_  
_Let me play with your body baby make you real hot_  
_Let me do all the things you want me to do_  
_Cause tonight baby I wanna get freaky with youaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa'_

I licked her neck in one quick movement, and turned her around to face me, ignoring all the cat-calls from the audience.

The look on Leah's face was fucking hilarious. It took me everything I had to not piss myself laughing right then and there. I couldn't help but imagine Paul and Seth's reaction when they would see this moment in her head, and hear what she was thinking, I'd have to ask them later, although if the look on her face was any indication, I could probably guess. She was probably kicking herself for agreeing to go along with this.

_'baby don't you understand I wanna be your next woman _  
_I wanna make your body scream _  
_then you will just know what I mean_  
_24 carat gold don't want the night to grow cold  
I_ _wanna lick up up and down _  
___and then I wanna lay you down_'

Dancing around Leah, wrapping my body around her and touching her like only a lover would, felt wonderful. Not because I was trying to sex Leah up, god no. Leah was a beautiful woman, but I didn't swing that way. Even if I was attracted to women, Leah would never be the girl for me. I loved her like the sister she was and the thought of seriously touching her like that and meaning it, nauseated me. That didn't mean I wasn't having the time of my life though.

It felt so good to feel wanted. I could practically feel the lust crackling around the room, slowly crawling up my skin, giving me goosebumps.

It was a very strange thing to actually feel the lust radiating from the crowd without experiencing any of my own. Like I was feeling the audience's emotions. No, more than that, it was like it was feeding me.

My thoughts turned back to Leah when her eyes caught mine and I saw the glare she was aiming at me. I could almost feel Leah's irritation with me, and knew she was probably thinking about the next time she phased and all the jokes she'd have to endure.

Ha, that should teach her not to mess with me.

As I sang about all the nasty things I wanted to do to Leah's body, and wound myself around her to achieve maximum irritation, I let my eyes wander around the bar. If wanted to have a good look at the vampires that came in earlier, now would be the best time to do it without seeming too interested.

I was determined to keep my heartbeat and breathing under control, knowing that they would definitely pick up on something like that. But I couldn't stop my heart from skipping a beat when my eyes found my target.

Ironically, it wasn't the red-eyed vampire that caused my reaction, I was prepared for red eyes, what I wasn't expecting was the golden-eyed vampire sitting next to him, watching every move I made, smirking at the beat my heart skipped when we made eye contact.

This was...unexpected.

The bastard, because that was what I named him in my mind the second I noticed his smug smirk, gave me a knowing look. It was almost enough to make me laugh. He though my reaction was to his beauty instead of his eyes. Though it irritated the hell out of me to have him think I was attracted to him - which I kinda was if I had to be honest - I was also happy to let him keep his delusions. I did not want his attention, vegetarian vampire or not.

His smug look slowly changed into a puzzled frown, but his eyes never left my form. I wondered which one he was. Was he the major, or was he Peter?

My eyes snapped back to Leah when I heard an irritated growl, and I couldn't contain the grin that slowly spread across my features.

This was so much fun.

I'd be embarrassed as hell later, but for now... Besides, it wasn't as if I was ever going to see any of these people again, vampires included.

The song ended and as predicted my embarrassment spiked. It felt like it was a coat I took off only to put it on again after my performance.

Before it could reach its peak, it was suddenly replaced by a warm feeling of calm and humor, making me see the funny side of this. I bowed as everyone in the bar gave us a big applause and turned to Leah wearing an exhilarated grin on my face. Before I could say anything, Leah put her hand on my arm, leaned in, and whispered in my ear. "Watch what you say."

I looked at her with mild confusion until I remembered. Right, vampires, how the hell I let something like that slip my mind was a mystery. My worry spiked. There were two of them, could Leah fight them both and survive? Sure on of them was clearly a vegetarian, but the other one wasn't. Just because he wasn't eating people didn't mean he'd stop his friend from having an all you can eat buffet.

The hand on my arm tightened and my eyes automatically followed her gaze. The vampires were watching us intently, and I couldn't get the thought of feeling like prey out of my mind. Frankly, it kind of pissed me off. I was no one's prey, not anymore anyway.

I glared at the golden-eyed vampire trying to make my feelings to him more than clear, his only reaction was an amused quirk of his eyebrow.

Stupid, smug, golden-eyed _bastard_.

What was the fucking chance of finding a vegetarian vampire in Texas anyway? About as much as finding _any_ vampire in Texas. Too much sun is what I figured, it's why I made that stupid bet with Leah in the first place. I grimaced. Fuck! I still couldn't believe I lost that fucking bet.

My eyes automatically gravitated towards the blond, golden-eyed vampire watching me with a confused expression on his face. He was beautiful. It wasn't really the right word to describe him, but I couldn't, for the life of me, come up with something better.

He continued to stare at me and all I could think of when I was looking at him, was how I would love to walk over to him and hit him over the head with something heavy. I didn't even know why, just that I wanted to hurt him for...something. I didn't know exactly what I was feeling, only that I didn't like how good it felt to have his eyes on me, how right, like I never wanted him to look away. It was bringing up memories of painful times and losing myself and - nononononononono _NO_!

This wasn't happening, it couldn't be, not again.

Outright panic was making it harder to breathe, fear was also becoming an issue. As sudden as it came over me and caught me off guard, it was soon replaced by calm and contentment.

What the fuck was going on?

I had a very good reason to panic and be afraid, to suddenly lose those feelings and have them be replaced by something I had no business feeling at a time like this, was not only strange, it was fucking Twilight Zone worthy. There was something going on, more than I could understand at this point in time, not with my emotions trying to compete for a place in the Guinness Book of Records by emulating the worse PMS in history.

The bastard kept looking at me, tilting his head slightly to the left and watching me with confusion and concern.

My stomach felt as if I was sitting in an airplane that just took an unexpected nosedive...not good.

His eyes were making me feel uncomfortable. I had a feeling he could see right through me, as if I was standing naked before him, I didn't like it. Wanting to get rid of these strange feelings, my eyes shifted to the vampire sitting next to him. He was pretty hot too, and luckily he didn't have the same effect on me his friend seemed to have.

What shocked me about him was the way he was watching Leah. This was not the way a vampire looks at something he wants to eat, but more like a man looking at the woman who belongs to him. If I hadn't known any better I would have said he imprinted on her. I dismissed the thought because I was pretty sure vampires didn't imprint, as far as I knew it was strictly a wolf thing.

I turned to Leah to ask her what was going on and almost gaped when I saw the same look on her face.

Fuck me sideways!

"Lee?" I hissed after I snapped out of my shocked state.

Her eyes snapped to me and any positive emotion towards the vampire I previously read in her eyes was replaced by horrified shock.

I was pretty sure her eyes were reflecting mine.

"Did you just-" I started to ask, still not sure I read her right.

"Yeah," she interrupted brusquely.

"On a fucking va-"

"Yeah," she answered, interrupting me quickly before I revealed our knowledge about vampires.

I still couldn't believe it.

"On one with red-"

"Yeah."

_"_Fuck shit_ motherfucking _damn!"

"Yeah."

* * *

A/N: Are you guys still interested in this story?

If you see any mistakes, please let me know?

Hanane


	8. Breathe in, Breathe out

_Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight_

* * *

_Chapter Seven - Breathe in, Breathe out_

_..._

****Peter****

I was nervous. I honestly couldn't remember the last time I felt anything like that. Maybe when I tried talking the Major into letting me and Charlotte leave Maria without tearing us limb from limb. But that was the only time I could remember being nervous about anything. I didn't remember my human life, not really, so any feelings I might have had were long forgotten. When I opened my eyes after burning for three days and found out I ended up in the hell better known as the 'Newborn Wars', I wasn't really all that worried. There was this niggling feeling in the back of my mind telling me I was going to get out just fine, eventually. I just had to bide my time.

I allowed myself to be guided by that feeling in every decision I made, like trying and eventually succeeding in befriending one of the most feared vampires ever, known as the 'god of war'. As the years past that feeling only grew stronger until I eventually didn't just have a feeling about things, but simply _knew_. So becoming nervous about something was pretty pointless since I already knew how most situations would end up for me, and what I should or shouldn't do to come out on top.

There were only two situations where I hadn't really known the outcome of. The first was when I decided to leave Maria and took Charlotte with me. I knew I would get out just fine if I left alone, but Charlotte had grown on me and there was no way I could have left her there to rot.

The second time was walking into a karaoke bar not knowing what we were going to find. I knew my mate would be in there. I knew something Jasper needed desperately would also be there. Unfortunately, it could have been something widely ranging from a hooker to a bottle of whisky. I just knew it would be good for him, and life changing. So yeah, it probably wasn't going to be a a bottle of whisky.

When I looked into the startled eyes of my mate for the first time, I wasn't shocked. I knew what I would find before I walked into the bar. Looking at the girl standing next to my mate, though, and simply knowing with absolute certainty that she belonged to my brother, was more than a bit surprising. Especially when I could practically see her shake off the mating pull like a dog shaking off water. My poor bastard of a brother, he really had the most rotten luck. Well, at least I would get to laugh my ass off at seeing Major Jasper Whitlock trying to woo a little human girl who didn't want anything to do with him, and had the ability to shield herself from him. I was so lucky my mate was a normal human. There would be nothing standing in my quest to make her mine.

.

****Leah****

_'OhmyGodohmyGodohmyGodOhmyGodohmyGodohmyGod!'_

It was the only thing going through my mind as I mindlessly followed Bella off stage, and sat down at a table with a perfect view of my - oh my God, oh my God...- imprint.

I couldn't seem to take my eyes off my ... - '_Oh my God, Oh my God' _-... imprint. He was looking at me like he just won the fucking lottery. He was obviously a few cards short of a deck.

_'Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!'_

What the fuck was I supposed to do now? This couldn't be happening to me, it just wasn't possible. No one could possible have so much bad karma - who the fuck was I in my past life, Lord Voldemort?

_'Oh God, what am I gonna do? How am I gonna fix this?'_

For the first time in my life I was experiencing mind-numbing terror. There had been many scary moments in my life; finding out Sam was missing was a very memorable one. Turning into a wolf the size of a horse while my father lay dying on the living-room floor, was another. Facing my first vampire without back-up, definitely scary. But nothing, nothing compared to what I was feeling as I looked into my imprint's red eyes.

_'Breathe, don't forget to breathe,'_ I reminded myself silently._ 'Breathing is essential.'_

"Does this mean I get to call you leech-lover now?" Bella asked casually, cutting through the cloud of fear, confusion and panic, like a well sharpened knife.

"What?" I asked sharply, turning my head to her so fast I heard a snapping sound of my vertebrae.

"No way in hell." I shuddered at the familiar nickname. That was so not gonna happen, uh-uh, no way, there would be no leach-loving for me.

"Don't go making jokes about this either. Not unless you want me to break your fingers," I threatened halfheartedly. "Calling me a fucking leech-lover, like I really need that shit right now," I muttered softly.

There were times where Bella seemed to be itching for beat-down, this was one of them. She was lucky she wasn't a wolf or I would've bitten her ass a long time ago.

"What?" she asked, widening her eyes in mock innocence. "I'm just saying, I'm the original leech-lover and now that you've come around to my way of thinking, I just figured, maybe we can start a club."

I glared at her in irritation. "Don't worry about it, Lee," she said purposely misinterpreting my 'shut up, or I'll kill you' glare. "Seeing as how my leech-loving is in the past, I would totally let you be club president."

"Bee," I warned threateningly.

"I'm serious, we could have a secret handshake and shit, maybe even get our own clubhouse. I'm thinking about passwords as we speak," she continued ignoring the cloud of doom that started to materialize above my head.

"What did I tell you about cracking jokes at inappropriate times?" I snapped furiously.

"Who's joking?" I heard her mutter

"Bella..." I growled. I could literally feel my inner wolf perk up at the thought of doing violence.

"Alright I'm done. No more jokes, I swear!"

My eyes turned back to him against my will and I almost flinched when my eyes found his again. No one had ever looked at me the way he was watching me. He was clearly feeling the effects of the imprint. Either that or I had something on my face, I was actually hoping for the latter.

This was great, just great. I wondered if I should just let him kill me now or have the pack do it later. Either way I was so dead. I imprinted on a fucking vampire. A human eating, red-eyed, fucking vampire. I was so screwed, it wasn't even funny.

I was right all along, I really am a freak. I felt a sharp burst of pain in my chest. I couldn't do this to my family...my pack...

God fucking dammit, what the hell was I supposed to do about something like this? Finding your imprint was supposed to be a happy thing. Sure I never truly believed in finding mine, but now that I had... Why the hell did it have to be a vampire? I felt the mating pull. All I wanted to do was go to him and touch him, claim him in every way possible, but I couldn't.

Everyone already thought I was nature's screw up; the first female to phase into a wolf. I couldn't go home with a vampire imprint and confirm their suspicions. I couldn't love a vampire and betray my pack, tribe, and ancestors.

However much I wanted to get to know him, touch him, _taste him,_ I couldn't. I needed to avoid that at any cost. If I touched him or kissed him I knew I couldn't just let him go. If he came to me of his own volition and allowed me to claim him, I knew all bets would be off. I would tell my pack to go to hell and take the whole fucking tribe with them. There's nothing more important to a wolf than its imprint. That's why I couldn't let it happen.

Right?

A big part of me wanted him to come to me and take me, just so the decision wouldn't be in my hands anymore. But then there was the duty to my tribe that was instilled into me from the cradle. It told me to run back to La Push - not home, not anymore - and do the job I was born for.

I took a deep breath. I needed to get my fucking self together. First things first; I need to stop thinking about how beautiful his fucking red eyes are, because that kind of thinking will get me in trouble fast.

The second thing I needed to do; was get Bella the fuck out of there. Because I sure as hell wasn't about to let her get hurt.

The third thing; was get the hell out of the karaoke bar fast before I lost all common sense and initiated a mating in public view. Because that would just be...yeah, I've got no words.

Dread filled every fiber of my being. I had to walk away from him. I had to walk away from my imprint. That meant I was condemning myself - and possibly him - to live alone for the rest of our unnatural lives. Could I really do that? Could I maim, not only myself, but possibly my imprint so horribly?

It was getting harder to breathe by the second. All I wanted to do was cry like a baby at how unfair my life was. Why did things like this always happen to me? Seriously, what was it, did I have Fate's Bitch written on my forehead or something?

After hurricane Sam blasted my life apart and I became a wolf and found out why he left me like he did, the only thought that kept me going was that my imprint was out there, waiting for me to find him. I had to believe I wasn't going to hurt like that for the rest of my life. I had to believe that one day I would get to be happy again, get a chance at a life and a love of my own.

I gave up that notion when my menstrual cycle stopped. A shape-shifter imprints on the person with whom he or she has the best chance to reproduce. I didn't know if it was because I turned into a wolf or if it was something that was going to happen anyway, but it seemed like I wouldn't be able to have children.

I visited to doctor but he couldn't tell me anything without doing some extensive testing, and Sam alpha ordered me to stop visiting the doctor when he found out. Asshole told me that finding out if I was barren was not as important as keeping the existence of the pack secret. He was worried the doctor would discover something by testing me since even getting a needle to penetrate my arm to draw blood was pretty much never going to happen.

I didn't really have much to say about that, he was right, but that didn't make me any less bitter about it.

So yeah, maybe I should have been nicer to people...or at least stopped being such a bitch. I nearly drove my pack crazy with my thoughts. Sometimes deliberate, sometimes not. But I had reasons to be bitter and bitchy and whatever the hell else I was.

I tore my eyes away from my imprint and looked at Bella who was watching me with worry written all over her face. I could only thank God that she wasn't joking anymore. I would hate to kill my own sister. I don't know what she saw when she looked at me, it could have been a number of things. But whatever it was I could visibly see her steel herself.

"Right," she said nodding firmly. "Don't you worry 'bout a thing, Leah. I'm going to take care of this, I'm going to take care of you." her eyes showed nothing but determination and her mouth quirked into a half-assed grin, "After all the times you saved my ass, I think It's about time I returned the favor, yes?"

I didn't know what to say or do so I just took her hand in mine and squeezed it.

Her face softened. "Don't worry, Lee, I got this. I promise."

I didn't think I could ever love Bella as much as I did at that moment. This girl, this fragile human girl, my sister by marriage, would do what no one other but my mother, father, Seth and Charlie had ever done for me. She would stand up for me and protect me in the face of danger, whether it was from heartache or physical injury. It was amazingly stupid of her since we were dealing with vampires, but appreciated nonetheless.

"Thank you, Bee, really, but I'm going to be okay." I said, trying to sound reassuring, but not really believing it myself.

She gave me a look that told me I wasn't fooling anyone, and straightened her back. It was easy to recognize the determination and strength that kept her from losing herself after Jake left her emerge from somewhere deep inside of her. Like she'd been hiding it somewhere and only brought it out when needed. It was strange to see, but at the same time I welcomed this side of her. It usually meant we were about to have some fun.

* * *

****Bella****

"You know," I muttered softly, "I can honestly say that I didn't see this coming. Never in a million years would I have thought... Wow, just, wow."

"Yeah, you and me both," Leah choked out bitterly.

I looked at my sister with sorrowful eyes. My poor, poor, Leah. Fucked up situations seemed to follow her around.

"What do you want to do here, Lee?" I asked still very much aware that the vampires could hear us.

Did this make the possibility of being eaten bigger or smaller? Surely the fact that Leah imprinted on the dude meant that he wouldn't harm her? Still, it didn't mean that I wasn't still fair game.

I looked at Leah who was...well, I hated to say it, but pretty much fucking useless. She looked like someone just sentenced her to death. This situation was impossible for her. Not only was she the only female wolf in the pack, she was the only one who imprinted on a vampire, on their natural enemy. This just brought a whole different meaning to sleeping with the enemy. The pack's reactions would not be positive, hell most of them would probably try to kill her for being an abomination. This was not gong to end well, not even a little bit.

"Come on, Lee...do you plan on accepting the imprint? I kind of need to know," I asked hoping she'd answer. She didn't.

Since Leah wasn't going to be taking the lead anytime soon, I knew that task had just fallen to me. I was going to have to find a way to get us out of here without any pain. Emotional or otherwise.

I would try my hardest, but I honestly didn't see it happening.

I looked at Leah one more time, determination and protectiveness filling me. I meant every word I said to her. I had her back. I wasn't about to let anyone hurt her, not her pack, not her family, and definitely not Mr. Red-eyes. I just needed to figure a way to do that without getting us both killed.

"Shit," I muttered softly. I briefly wished that Paul was with us but then dismissed the thought. Paul was currently my favorite wolf (next to Seth of course) but having him here at a time like this would be like adding fuel to a fire. He would have probably wolfed out and attacked by now.

My eyes drifted back to the table where Leah's red-eyed imprint and his too hot for his own good friend were sitting. I scowled when he sent me a knowing smirk. What the hell was he looking at me for, and why did I want to- _Must not think of him in that way Bella._

This was so fucking unfair. What was it with vampires and hotness anyway? The worse thing was that it wasn't only his pretty face that was turning me on. He had this whole aura about him that just made me want him. Simply looking at him made me soak my panties. He raised his eyebrows at me again and gave me a self-satisfied smirk. It was like he knew what I was feeling. The Bastard. It wouldn't surprise me if all vampires had like X-ray vision or something. He could probably see my soaked panties.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and tried very hard to erase that thought. The only person in the entire universe that I trusted with X-ray vision was Superman. He was way too much of a boy-scout to get his perv on by peeping on unsuspecting women. Vampires had no business having X-ray vision. Especially not cocky vampires.

There was something strange going on though. I was pretty sure he was one of the rare vampires with a gift, even if I didn't know what it was yet. I'd try to piece it together later when I had the time to think about everything that happened.

I sighed and tried to ignore the golden-eyed vampire that kept looking at me as if he was expecting me to walk over to him and bow down in worship. The shock I initially felt was rapidly making way for anger.

Why the hell did this happen now, or at all really? Leah and I were finally doing okay. Leah had dealt with all her residual feelings towards Sam the bastard, and I had let go of Edward Cullen and Jacob Black and the lives I could have had with them. We were in a good place. We didn't need something like this to happen. We didn't need a bunch of men to complicate our lives. Especially not vampires. We were finally free, why did something like this have to happen?

The bastard was still looking at me like I was supposed to fall down and kiss his feet. But there was also a sense of wary confusion on his face. Like he wasn't really sure what to make of me.

"Bastard," I muttered knowing full and well he could hear me.

A surprised and somewhat incredulous look crossed his face before it settled on irritation when his red-eyed friends snickered at the expression on his face. I broke my staring contest with the cocky vampire and redirected my attention to Leah when she grasped my hand tightly.

"Bells..." she whispered looking like a caged animal in a zoo.

"Yeah. Right. I know, Lee, don't worry about it, we're getting out of here. We'll figure shit out when we get to our hotel."

"Sooner rather than later," Leah sighed. "Preferably before I do someone I'll regret."

"I frowned confusedly. "You mean some_thing _you'll regret?"

She swallowed heavily. "No I'm pretty sure I mean some_one_."

"Oh. _Oh._ That's not good."

Yeah... Leah going around jumping red-eyed vampires in a mating frenzy couldn't possibly be a good thing. Honestly, the thought alone was disgustingly disturbing.

"So I think the smartest thing to do would be run for the hills. You're probably going to have to drag me a little too 'cause my feet seem to be on strike."

How the hell was I supposed to do that. Did imprinting include losing your sanity 'cause I think I just heard my sister tell me I would have to drag her werewolf ass away. Did this insane woman forget about her super strength, and how puny I am in comparison? This night was turning out to be the best ever. It was right up there with nearly getting killed by James and being abandoned in a dark and dangerous forest.

I grinned brightly at Leah hoping she wouldn't notice how worried I was underneath the fake grin, and stood up from my chair, pointedly turning my back on the cocky vampire. "Alright, time to get the fuck out of here."

As soon as the words left my mouth I cringed. If Leah really imprinted on Mr. Red-eyes, which I'm pretty sure she did, he wasn't going to just let her waltz out of his life without at the very least talking to her. Announcing our intentions to leave was like waving a big red flag in front of a bull; there was no way in hell he'd be able to ignore it. Not that we'd be able to leave stealthily anyway. They were vampires for fuck's sake.

"Yeah. Okay. Let's go," Leah said absent-mindedly, her eyes glued to her red-eyed imprint. I sighed softly knowing that this couldn't possibly end well, took her hand, and slowly began pulling her up.

Suddenly I froze. I don't know how I knew exactly. I didn't have any vampire or wolf senses to guide me, nor was I special in any other way. But every instinct I possessed was screaming his presence to me. I simply knew with absolute certainty that he was standing behind me. It took me every ounce of strength I had to turn around and face him wearing a pleasant smile.

"Do you mind?" I asked when I turned to find him standing way too close to me. It was like he had no concept of personal space. I couldn't suppress flinching when I looked into his gold-colored eyes. Gold. Animal drinker. Cullens. Ugh, I almost wished he had red eyes, it would have made things much more easier to deal with. It was a strange day that I stood in front of a vegetarian vampire wishing he was a human drinker. Clearly Edward screwed me up in more ways than I had previously thought.

"No, not really," he said with amusement, bringing me out of my inner musings. I frowned at him in confusion. What the hell was he talking about.

"Huh?" I replied in-eloquently. I had trouble understanding what he was talking about. Did they really need to make vampires this beautiful? And that delicious accent... Seriously, they had to breaking some kind of cosmic law somehow, this shit couldn't possibly be fair. How the hell was I supposed to stop Leah and myself from getting killed when I couldn't even think clearly in his presence?

"You okay?" the golden-eyed vampire asked, lips curling up in an amused smirk.

I was trying to remember how to breathe. It was silly, really. I'd been breathing my entire life without any conscious effort or thought, so why was it so hard to remember how to take a breath.

"Breathe, Darlin', there's no need to faint on my account." I could practically feel his smug self-satisfaction at my inability to breathe. It pissed me off. My brain came back online about the same time my pride did. I righted my back, took a deep controlled breath, trying not to let my relief show at the oxygen filling my longs, and tilted my head questioningly.

"Mmmm, did you say something?" I asked distractedly. "Sorry, I was thinking about my grocery list, you see. I wasn't sure if I added pecan caramel ice-cream to the list. It's a must have for me, just thinking about being without leaves me unable to breathe with panic."

_'Ha! Take that, stupid, smug bastard. I just pulled a Hatake Kakashi on you!'_

So I might have spent too many weekends with Seth playing couch potato and watching Naruto re-runs. If I developed an unhealthy addiction and slight attraction to Hatake Kakashi because of it, I can't be blamed. The guy is awesome after all. And really, it's all Seth's fault anyway, I swear to god there should be a law against using his puppy dog eyes to blackmail me into doing anything he wants.

The look on the golden-eyed bastard's face was priceless though. Confusion, shock, and best of all, doubt.

"Ice-cream?" he asked incredulously. "You were thinking about ice-cream?"

"What else would I be thinking about?" I replied with innocent puzzlement. I arched an eyebrow, "Who are you anyway? And what were you babbling about when I was fantasizing about my dessert?"

His studied me for a long time, and it took a lot of effort not to shift under his carefully scrutinizing gaze. His intense eyes held mine for a moment before he dipped his head in acknowledgment. He didn't say anything, but I could practically hear the silent 'well played' he offered grudgingly.

"Jasper Whitlock, at your service, Ma'am," he introduced himself, dipping his head politely, eyes watching me intently. His mouth curled up into a mischievous smile, eyes sparkling with humor. "I was wondering, have you ever heard of the saying; 'Everything's bigger in Texas'?" he asked wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

* * *

**A/N:** _Let me know what you think? The story will start to pick up from here on out. They've finally met, now what? _

_I wanted to thank everyone that reviewed alerted or added this story to their favorite list. Many of you have been with me from the beginning. Thank you for being the most awesome and loyal readers ever. _

_I've been working on Something Wicked for those of you who are interested. And I've published a Percy Jackson & the Olympians self insert story called Eye of the Hurricane, which is going to be so much fun for me to write. Check it out and let me know what you think?_

_Sincerely, Hanane_


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